the Lost King
by margarettt
Summary: After years of abuse at the hands of his father and sister, Zuko abdicates the throne, and leaves the capital for Ba Sing Se, now New Azulon, to live a new life with his uncle, and begin a search for his mother, and the truth about his life. Perhaps some things should remain secrets.
1. I - the King is Dead

It was not the first time the prince had been on a ship. He had been a passenger on many majestic vessels, made of the finest woods, stained handsomely and darkly, with ample room for him, and his entire family; ships with large, white sails proudly baring the emblem of the Fire Nation, and led by master sailors and staffed by a loyal crew. They ate well, three times a day, whether they wanted beef, chicken, or fruits, and were even able to bathe on board.

This was no such ship.

The ship Zuko currently found himself on was made of cold, rusted metal, held together with loose bolts and nails. This was not a luxury ship for sailing their waters, but a canning ship, for catching, and packaging fish to sell to the mainland. Neither Zuko, nor the rest of the crew had showered since they set sail ten days ago.

The first day wasn't terrible. Zuko knew what came with abdicating the throne. He'd been contemplating it since he was a child, since the day his father scarred his face as a punishment. His reflection asked him daily if being a king was worth it, and the entire left side of his face would burn. Even now, on this cold, metal ship, the skin was unnaturally warm to the touch. The heat assured him that he made the right choice.

The second day, however, Zuko felt betrayed. He had spent sixteen years of his life a prince, and realities outside of the palace were jolting to him. The air was cold, and smelt like dying fish. Men were calloused, and brute. Food was tasteless. Everything was unwelcoming to say the least. While his life had been far from perfect, but he was a prince, and never denied comforts, or even basic grooming necessities. He missed teas, and roast duck, and bed sheets.

The third day, he contemplated returning. He thought of all plausible excuses to give to his father to explain his absence, and even thought of having the other half of his face burnt.

He would tell his father that he was sent on a secret scouting mission, that he gave into his instincts and needed to follow a hint that would tell them about spies their kingdom — no, spies in their castle. He thought of plausible candidates for spies, ways he could pay them off, and even which ones it would be better to just have killed.

On the fourth day, Zuko thought about returning, and challenging his father to an Agni Kai. He'd either die, or kill his father.

The fourth day, Zuko was confident. He'd spent four days working in the least royal conditions he could imagine. If he'd survived this, Agni Kai was nothing. Then, he would become king, and in order, he would free the colonies, exile his sister, and use whatever remained of the royal army to find his mother.

The fifth day, he cut open his palm while canning. He saw his muscles twitch underneath the blood running down his wrist to his elbow. As he bled helplessly on deck, he thought about how many people in Earth Kingdom would love to know that the Fire Lord's son was bleeding profusely on a ship in the middle of the ocean, and no one came to help him. As cautiously as possible, Zuko held his hands together, and let out a gentle, controlled stream of fire from his uninjured hand. He winced, but the pain was bearable. He cauterized the cut, and returned to his work. Even as the King's least loved child, Zuko still received treatment for every ailment he could imagine. He didn't have so much as a cough go unattended. A cut left untreated could get infected, and the limb would need to be removed. A scarred king is one thing, but a limbless king is out of the question, so every wound was treated.

On the sixth day, an infected cut didn't seem like the worst thing in the world.

On the seventh day, loosing in an Agni Kai seemed like an honorable way to go out.

On the eighth day, Zuko vaguely considered jumping overboard.

And on the ninth day, he really only thought about how badly he wanted to shower.

On the tenth day, they docked on the rocky shore of Full Moon Bay, unforgiving as the rest of the trip. The ship couldn't find a port big enough for their ship, then they couldn't find enough space to unload their cargo. It was midday, and the ship smelt like it was cooking the fish, and then rotting them. After unloading the reeking cargo, Zuko returned to his room to gather his things. Many crew members shook hands, and exchanged addresses; Zuko put his backpack over his shoulder, and walked with his head down, avoiding all possible eye contact.

His feet found solid ground, and he found a bollard and sat up against it. As a runaway, he didn't need to bring much. A change of clothes, a canteen, a knife given to him as a present by his uncle from the city he now found himself in, and a letter from the same uncle.

The letter had been sent from a nameless post, often used by soldiers and commanders in the army, not wanting to expose their location. His uncle had once held both those titles, but had chosen to give them up, and everything that came with them.

It had been four years since the war ended, and Zuko was beginning to wonder if wars ever ended. Men on the ship still talked about it, like old battles were like new wounds, still open and gaping. Flags that didn't belong to their ancestors flew above a city they lived for generations, and people looked upon the cloth with contempt.

On the year he turned twelve, the emperor of Ba Sing Se surrendered to Fire Lord Ozai. Instead of cherishing the ancient city, he demanded it be destroyed, and so for almost an entire month, the city burned. It was named New Azulon, for his sister, for his grandfather, for prodigies, and monsters, both looking to be Gods. No where, in all the colonies or original land, was a city, a building, a mountain, a lake, or a desert named after Zuko. Not even ones conquered on his birthday.

His uncle had been the one to light the flames that had destroyed the city four years ago, and as repentance, he returned. Not as a commander, not as a solider, but as a laborer. He abdicated his position, his title, his power, his claim to the throne, his claim to land, and for that, became Zuko's hero. As the man who was more genetically similar to his father than anyone on earth, Zuko adored his uncle in ways his own father could never comprehend.

 _My Dearest Nephew,_

Uncle's letters always started the same.

 _I appreciate your letters, and have received all of them. I am so glad to hear you enjoyed your vacation to the Ember Islands, even with my brother's temper, and your sister's moods. How I wish I could have joined you._

 _I've enjoyed the last few months in the city more than any I had lived in the capital. My shop is running quiet successfully. You'll find a map of the city attached. I know your father is planning a trip here, and I hope you'll join him, and then leave him behind when you visit me._

 _Most Sincerely,_

 _Uncle_

Father had indeed planned to visit New Azulon later in the month, but fully believed his brother had died. A traitor to the nation, there was a high bounty on him, however, after a thorough search of his room, a suicide note was found, saying he had drown himself in the Red Sea.

"A dishonor even in death," His father had said.

Zuko had always known the truth, though; about the note, about the tea shop in New Azulon, and about how father had planned to visit. He doubted he would stay, or even come at all. Father had been busy with reconstruction of the capital, attending Azula's fire bending demonstrations with Lo and Li, and frequent bouts of resting, followed by bouts of restlessness. Even if father did visit New Azulon, he never cared for tea.

The map attached was similar to one Zuko had studied in school, however in attempting to find a starting point for himself, he found himself confused. He couldn't even find the Full Moon Bay, let alone a way to get from the dock to the tea shop, which was a good few miles away. He could make it by sundown, but only if he started soon, and only then if he found a place to even start with. As he examined the map, holding it at different angles and pushing it further away from him before drawing it back again closer, a shadow was cast upon him.

"What happened to your eye?"

Gold eyes turned to meet a brown ones and a boy no older, and probably no younger than him, smoking, and staring down directly at him.

Zuko contorted his face. "That's a really… personal question." Small talk wasn't an art taught at the Royal Fire Nation Academy. In fact, it was generally avoided at the palace, and most other social situations he found himself in, so the question only led to a deep discomfort in Zuko's belly, not aided by hunger.

"Yeah, you're right." He exhaled, and quite politely blew his smoke in the other direction. "I'm Jet."

He was alone, which made Zuko feel a little more at ease, until he introduced himself. Zuko had used a fake name on the ship and hadn't decided on a name to use here. "Nice to meet you, Jet," Zuko began. "But I've really got to be going." He stood up, and decided to start following the sun, and walking westward.

"Pressing appointment?" Jet put out his cigarette, throwing it into the bay, which was again, sort of a polite gesture, and began walking along side him.

"You could say," Zuko said, quickly. "Do you need something?" He turned harshly to face him.

Jet walked in front of him, and blocked his path. Zuko raised an eyebrow, and arranged his legs in a fighting stance, just in case. "I was wondering if you needed a job?" Jet asked, nonchalantly.

Zuko looked nonplussed, unsure of how to answer.

"A lot of refugees come from the Fire Nation on canning ships, and most of them need jobs. You looked strong."

Zuko felt immense relief. As a prince with a most distinguishable feature, his most pressing fear abdicating was being recognized. While his pride was a little hurt that he wasn't a nation symbol - technically, he was the prince of New Azulon, formerly Ba Sing Se, and all the other Earth Kingdom colonies - he could live with that more easily than being a hated king's son.

"And it looks like you survived something pretty rough," Jet continued, pressing his fingers underneath his own eye. It was the wrong side; Zuko's scar was on his left side, but he got what he was saying.

Zuko still wasn't sure how to answer, and his face clearly showed it.

"Are you interested?"

"Not particularly."

"You already have a job here in Ba Sing Se?"

Do they still call it Ba Sing Se, Zuko thought, and then thought it better not to ask. "Yes," He nodded. He had assumed he could work at his uncle's tea shop, but had never really asked him. If worse came to worse he could always… Zuko frowned at his lack of professional experience, or even knowledge of different jobs he could potentially have. Either way, he'd figure it all out when he found Uncle.

"It doesn't look like you're too happy with your job." Jet commented on the frown.

"It's not that," Zuko shook his head. "I just have to get going." He pushed passed him, moving Jet to the side with his arm. He was heavier than Zuko had thought, or at least sturdier, but no real struggle to move.

Zuko began walking forward, briefly turning around to see if he was being followed. Jet stayed in the place he had been pushed to, and lit another cigarette. He headed back towards the docks before calling out, "let me know if you change your mind!"

Zuko exhaled sharply through his nose, as he walked away quicker.

He proceeded to wonder through New- Ba Sing Se, as it was still called, for about three hours, until the street lamps lightly flickered on. When he finally found the Jade Dragon, the lights inside were still on. He pushed the door open unceremoniously, and shifted his eyes around the room. He was approached swiftly by a young girl, with her hair pulled up in a tight bun. "Good evening sir, may I seat you?"

"No, thanks," He said, adding the last word on quickly. "I'm looking for the owner."

"May I ask who wants to see him?"

"Uh, his nephew?" Zuko said, unsure if he said too much. She nodded, and went to the back of the restaurant. Zuko wasn't sure whether he should find a seat, or walk up to the counter, so he just stood where he was, awkwardly but not drawing much attention from the customers.

His uncle beamed the moment he saw him, with a happiness like Zuko hadn't seen in years. "My nephew!" He cried, and instantly, Zuko ran to him. They embraced and the crowd at the tea shop all turned their eyes to them. "Customers," He announced, elated, "this is my nephew, finally coming to visit his old uncle! All of your drinks are on me tonight, in celebration of this joyful occasion!"

There were cries of "finally we meet him," and "what a handsome young man," and "you should visit more often!" The crowd was jovial, and almost as happy as uncle was to see him. Never in his life had anyone be so happy to see him; even his mother had never been so open with her happiness.

"Actually, Uncle…" Zuko began nervously, not sure of how to put it. "I may be staying for longer than a visit."

Uncle's eyes widened, and Zuko felt his stomach drop onto the cold, earthen floor.

"This is a happier day than I could have ever imagined!" Uncle exclaimed, and the whole crowd joined in. "My nephew, it would be an honor if you stayed with me. You can work here, and I have plenty of room for you upstairs with me, and there will be no man happier than me in all of Ba Sing Se."

A celebration ensued, one with fewer people than Zuko's name day celebration, but with infinitely more jubilation. There was tea bought for him by almost everyone (and some laced with rums), he was embraced by strangers like he was a neighbor, and everyone called him either nephew, or son, and one older lady called him handsome.

"Uncle, are you su-" He began asking, in a brief moment where he was able to pull him aside, but just as quickly as the moment would end, he was cut off.

"Nephew, the circumstances that you come to me under are not conversation for now. Whatever sorrow you bring to the Jade Dragon, whatever pain you bring with you here, let it go into the night wind. We can talk later." He said, patting him on the back, and giving him another tea.

Songs were sung, and dances danced, and the festivities lasted long into the night. As exhausted as Zuko was, the crowd energized him. He had never felt more like a prince in his life.

* * *

Azula was never one to cry, at least not for death, but she felt a thick lump in her throat. Her chest felt dense, and she was unable to find any word to say.

Ty Lee and Mai stood on either side of her, wanting to both comfort the princess, and keep their distance.

"Azula, do you need anything?" Mai asked.

"You know we'd do anything for you." Ty Lee added.

But the words wouldn't come to her. She wanted to tell them to leave, and shoot blue fire from everywhere she could, and scream until the earth collapsed beneath them, but she just stood with her back to them, swallowing as hard as she could.

They were in her father's wing, which included a library, a courtyard, practice area, a room dedicated to Fire Nation war victories through out all of history, and his sleeping chamber. Normally, no one other than family would be allowed entrance, and even then, many rooms were restricted, particularly the one Azula, Ty Lee and Mai found themselves currently in.

Her father's bed was bigger than many commoners' homes, with great flame lanterns burning on either side, illuminating a grand portrait of the Fire Lord which hung proudly between over the bed. They had just been relit.

It began with a fever, and Fire Lord Ozai claimed there was too much fire in the palace. He demanded all the lanterns, candles, and lamps be extinguished immediately. The sun had set hours ago, and the whole castle waited in darkness, when the screaming began.

Azula entered the room when they were bathing him with cold cloths. "Father, father, what's wrong?"

"Princess, he's burning up. His fever is getting worse."

"Why? What's wrong? What happened? He was fine hours ago!" She grew more enraged as she spoke, pushing aside everyone in her way to get closer.

"Stay away!" Her father had bellowed. "I don't want her to see."

"Princess," Two guards approached her on either side, taking one arm in their hands. "We must escort you out."

"Get your filthy miscreant hands off me." She demanded, lifting both her arms swiftly to hit the men in their faces. They backed away, and she spun around in a traditional bending stance. "I dare one of you would try to separate me from my father again. I dare you."

They left, swiftly.

"Father, what can I do to help?" She ran back to his bedside. "There has to be something I can do."

His body began to convulse violently from under the cloths, and his mouth opened like he wanted to cry out, but only sputtering sounds and foamy saliva came out.

This wasn't the first person Azula had seen die. In fact, for a woman of barely fourteen, she had been soldiers, servants, and civilians all fall into death's cold emptiness. She had accepted this as part of life, and when that time came for certain individuals, she even reveled in it. Like her Uncle; life was for those willing to take command and live it, not for those who mourned for the past, regretted, and drank tea. She celebrated deaths and never was afraid of what it held. "There has to be something I can do!" She cried, over, and over.

While her father's body was still pliable, she moved his arms down by his side, covered his body respectfully, and finally shut his eyes. The room felt heavy, and humid, and the air pushed down harshly on her body. The familiar sensation of watching a soul transfer worlds felt new and unnerving.

A doctor had confirmed what she already knew. "Your majesty, the king is dead."


	2. II - Parallels

The throne was too large for Azula. It was nearly a yard across, and plated with gold. When she was a child, and the rest of her family still lived in the palace with her, she would sneak out of her room at night, and sit there. It would be cold, and the room would be dark. She'd only be able to find it when the moon shone right, and the shadows from outside moved in a certain way. None of these things deterred her though, and when she was restless, or anxious, she'd find her way to the throne, and sit in it until she fell asleep. She'd wake up and find herself back in bed, tucked in.

Her mother laughed. "You silly girl. You fell asleep up there, and not in your bed!"

"Why did you move me?" She had wailed. "Why did you move me?"

Now, the throne was still distinctly too big for her. Strictly speaking, it was too big for her father too, but he filled it better. Azula was still petite, and even with all of the royal court in the room, it still seemed empty, and she still felt isolated.

"Your majesty," General Zhao approached her. He was her father's most trusted contemporary, in the War of the Kingdoms and in the four years since then. "The search for your brother has turned up nothing. We've issued a warrant for his arrest."

"Is abdicating illegal?" Azula asked, innocently.

"No," Zhao shook his head. "For poisoning your father."

Azula sneered. "Zuko wasn't brave enough to be a king, let alone poison one. He left over a week before father died. Looking for him is a waste of time."

"But he's next in-"

"Are you saying that traitor who left his family has more right to the throne than the person who was the last one with Fire Lord Ozai?" Azula slammed her fist down on the armrest of the throne, amplifying her anger through her bones.

Zhao paused. "It's just customary practice for the fir-"

"Was my father first born?"

"No, your majesty, he was not."

"And who do you think was more fit to be king? Him, or that fat, sniffling tea bag of an uncle of mine?"

"Naturally, your father." Zhao's reply was quick.

"So, for my first law, I decree," Azula began. "That birth order will no longer be a deciding factor in who is Fire Lord."

"Princess, I'm afraid you don't have the power to make laws…"

" _Princess_?" Her eyes narrowed, and fists tightened.

Zhao exhaled, and nervously scanned the room, looking for support from the other members of the royal court, all of whom decided to maintain their distance while Zhao delivered the news. "The royal court hasn't decided who is going to be the next Fire Lord."

Azula said nothing, but the air felt warmer.

"The royal court must weigh our options, take into consideration the current state of the Fire Nation, of our colonies, and what the public will think of-"

"How long will it take to make this decision?" Azula asked abruptly.

"It took three months to decide whether Iroh or Ozai would succeed Azulon."

"And what is to come of the kingdom in the interim?"

"The royal court and I will see to it."

"Very well," Azula shooed them away with her hand. "Waste no time in this pertinent decision, and promptly inform me of your choice. I wish to mourn for my father in the room he loved the most."

The royal court cleared out quickly, and Mai and Ty Lee approached Azula.

"Do you want us to leave too?" Ty Lee asked.

Azula looked down. "Mai, your father is a member of the royal court, correct?"

"Yes."

"I need your help." She turned her gaze to her. "You need to let me know what they're talking about, what they're taking into consideration, what concerns they have-"

"And how unfit anyone else would be?" Mai finished for her and smiled.

Azula sighed peacefully, and let her face fall into her hands. "How can I expect them to take care of my kingdom when they have doubts about me ruling it? They're buffoons!"

"No one else has a better claim than you, Azula," Ty Lee kneeled down and put her hand on Azula's knee. "There's surely people in the royal court who knew your father always wanted you to succeed him."

"He'd only shared that with me." Azula bitterly said. "And there's never been a woman Fire Lord,"

"You can be the first." Mai said.

"What the hell am I supposed to do while they decide?"

"Prove you're right for the throne!" Ty Lee encouraged. "You can study laws, you can propose new courses of action, you can-"

"Or you can rub elbows with the royal court until they see how stupid this is." Mai sighed. "I know flattery's not your thing, but that's what works in these circles."

"I suppose I could." Azula admitted, before sitting up in the throne and slouching over in it, covering her face with her hands. "They can never see me like this, doubting myself like this."

"Well, they'll never have to." Mai said. "We'll keep your secret safe."

Azula abruptly stood up, and began walking out of the room, quickly joined on either side by her confidants. "I'm going to my room." She announced.

"Then I'll go see my father," Mai added.

"And I'll-" Ty Lee began, but was cut off when Azula grabbed her hand wordlessly. "I'll follow you, Azula."

* * *

In the month since Zuko came to Ba Sing Se, he kept the name he took on the ship. Li, and his uncle Poh, were refugees from the Fire Nation; farmers who fled after being drafted to join the army, to defend a king they no longer believed in. Li followed his uncle, after being orphaned at the age of nine. Li was never a fire bender, nor had he studied swords, nor had Poh ever even joined the army, but they both knew about tea.

Zuko wasn't content with tea, and neither was Li really, but both Iroh and Poh were over the moon with it. Zuko realized his was his uncle's dream, not conquests, and blood baths, and foreign lands he'd never seen becoming his. Iroh's dream was always to make people happy.

"I never thought I could repent for my crimes as a prince," He told Zuko the first week he was there. "I thought I had brought so much pain, to so many people, my fate would eternally be an unhappy one. This thought made me hopeless, particularly after Lu Ten died."

Zuko could only look into his teacup at this point, and avoid eye contact with his uncle.

"I did consider taking my life, but I thought: how would that fix anything? How would me being dead help those who I had hurt? They would still carry those wounds, and you would have more. Nephew, if it weren't for you, I would have drowned myself in the Red Sea. But, the Fire Sages had different plans for me. I travelled for months, and lost quite a bit of weight, though you wouldn't be able to tell that now, would you?" He laughed, in spite of the story. "And found myself in Ba Sing Se. I thought it was only appropriate to stay and mourn for my son in the city of his passing, the city that he died for, that my brother would not even name for him. As painful as it was, I decided this was the place to heal my heart. Naturally, I was drawn to the tea market. I was never one for spirits, or wars, or anger, like my brother; but I've always found comfort in foods and teas."

He smiled for the first time in his story. "I made people smile when I brought them tea, and now instead of making people sad, I make them happy. They forget about their sorrows and stresses, if only for a few seconds. That's all I can do to reclaim my place in the Heavens. And now, I have my second son with me."

Zuko wanted to lay down and sleep in the words "my second son," but instead just looked at his uncle and smiled with his eyes.

"Now, tell me, nephew, what brings you to Ba Sing Se?"

He looked back to his tea. "I'm not sure, Uncle."

Uncle didn't say anything, but his expression showed understanding.

"I can't stand living with my father, and Azula. I stayed with my sword trainer for a year after you left, and then the Ember Islands for months. All I did was study, and train, and dread going back to the palace. I stayed for a week with them before I decided to leave. I—" Zuko felt his face contorting, in both fear and disgust.

"You don't need to tell me the horrors of living with Ozai." Zuko would not meet his gaze, but felt his uncle's. "We can talk more when you're ready. But, Ba Sing Se is a city of new beginnings."

Beginnings were slow. Nobody remembers learning how to walk, how to speak, or how to read, but Zuko had to learn to be a new person, and it was a painful metamorphosis. He had to change his mannerisms from cold and regal, to friendly and casual to better sell teas; he had to wear his hair down to hide his scar – not terribly successfully but the effort was there. He had to make small talk with customers about their day, and not scream at them when they dared to insult his uncle's tea. The change was strange, and even a little stressful, but he felt comfortable here with his uncle. His nights sleeping on a cot were more restful than any night he'd ever slept on his bed at the palace, and he had more pride in himself serving tea than he had as a prince.

In the Fire Nation Academy, Zuko had been taught the people of his nation were tenacious, and powerful warriors. But all Zuko had seen from his encounters with generals, viziers, and kings he'd met, was cruelty.

Every morning, the whole school would sing a song of dedication to the powerful, merciful and wise Fire Lord. Zuko would only mouth the words. Real stories of the war, real stories of the king, were never told in the walls of the Fire Nation Academy. No one knew how prisoners of war were made to work in the mines underground until they died of starvation or exhaustion, or that less than ten percent of the crops grown in the Earth Kingdom stayed there. Even tales of his father's conquests were romanticized, with stories of him letting women and children go as long as they swore allegiance to the Fire Nation. They would never hear about the women whose skin was burned off, after they had been raped by soldiers, so no half Fire Nation children would be born. Nor, about how colonists who refused to kneel before Ozai had their legs amputated at the knee.

And no one ever questioned what happened to their queen. She'd only disappeared in the night. For a week, candles were lit in her honor, and no one spoke a word to Zuko or Azula. But by the following Monday, it was back to the hymn of allegiance and the tale of the "peaceful" conquest of the Eastern Earth Kingdom.

The people of the Earth Kingdom took no joy in others pain, or shame in their poverty. Many poor farmers and laborers would spend their last pennies on a drink for their friends, a toy for their child, or a barrette for their wife. Though his blood was warm with the fire of his family, Zuko felt his heart was earthen.

He'd set a cup down at a table, around an hour after sunset on a Tuesday, when Uncle had told him a customer was here to see him. Zuko turned around, perplexed, and even more so when he was met with a strange face – almost perfectly round, with short brown hair and two red marks underneath the eyes.

"Are you Li?"

"Ye-yeah, do you want some tea?" Zuko stuttered.

"Not really, no. I was sent here by Jet."

"Who's that?"

"He's my boss, and my friend. You were offered a job by him when you got off the boat."

Zuko half closed his eyes, and thought back.

"He wants to know if you'd like to meet with him."

"Why does he want to meet with me?"

"He figured you'd ask that. His offer still stands."

"You can tell him that I'm content with my job here."

The round face staring at him sucked their lips inward, and exhaled.

"I never got your name."

"It's Smellerbee."

"Oh," Zuko didn't mean to show he was surprised, but couldn't help it.

"That's not my real name."

"I—uh sorry." He had almost said, "I figured" but fortunately had stopped himself. "Would you like some tea, Smellerbee?"

"No thanks." Smellerbee stood up, and pushed in their chair. "I've got to be going anyway."

Zuko frowned, but didn't oppose. "Well, come again,"

Smellerbee started to walk away, before Zuko thought of something.

"Wait!" He put down the tea and held up his arm. Smellerbee said nothing, but turned around. Zuko looked around. "Can we talk outside?"

Smellerbee just smiled.

"What exactly does Jet want me to do?" Zuko asked once outside. His blood pounded inside his head, like he had a fever. Jet had mentioned his scar, his marking scar, what made him Fire Prince Zuko. "Like, what is this job? And why does he want me, and none of the other people in Ba Sing Se? There's several thousands of us here. Why not that guy? Why me?"

Smellerbee turned around. "I'll tell Jet to be in touch."

"I don't want that! I want to know what the hell he wants!" But Smellerbee was already walking away.

Zuko exhaled, and decided to ask Uncle about it later. They both served tea until two hours before midnight, when the Jade Dragon closed, and as they cleaned up, he brought up the question. "Uncle, have you heard of anybody named Jet?"

"No, nephew. Why do you ask?" He replied, cleaning off a table with a damp cloth.

"He asked me if I wanted a job when I got here, and just asked me again."

"I didn't realize you were that employable." His uncle mused.

"Yeah, but why me?"

"You have quite a distinguished look, and have become quite successful here. Maybe you can make more money with him. Who knows?"

"I don't feel good about this."

"Neither did I when I first came to Ba Sing Se. Give it time, and explore all your opportunities here, nephew."

"Uncle, I'm-"

"Let me ask you a question first, nephew." He picked up his cloth, and dishes off a newly cleaned table. "Do you have any friends in Ba Sing Se?"

"Yeah, yo—"

"Not me,"

Zuko said nothing.

"I was nervous trusting people in the city myself as well, nephew. Please believe me. I was certain everybody knew that I was a former soldier, someone who had once fought against this city. But, if I hadn't, I would never met the man who sold me this building, I'd have never started working for a tea house, and I'd have never met people who loved my tea as much as I did."

Zuko looked up at his uncle, smiling with half his mouth.

Uncle put his arm around him, and they walked upstairs, towards their apartment. "Be daring, my nephew. The blood of a king runs in you, and you must be willing to try new things."

He exhaled, and smiled, fully this time. "You always give me good advice, Uncle."

"And if it doesn't work out, you can still sell tea with me."

They walked upstairs, together, to clean their dishes, wash their faces, and have a cup of lavender tea before bed.

* * *

Ty Lee had been exposed to things like this in the circus before. Men would grab her by the waist after shows, whisper lewd things in her ear, and make her feel slimy inside. So, when Azula came up to her, and said a freak show was never really the place for her, and she should be at the palace with her, Ty Lee agreed. She'd felt joy performing at the circus, but afterwards, felt dirty and small, and trapped under a big cloth tent with animals and filth and people with extra/missing appendages.

She'd always wanted a way to thank Azula. Though she'd never be royal, she could at least pretend with her.

Azula was always hot - as in physically warmer than anybody else Ty Lee had ever touched. When Azula cried into her shoulder, it felt boiling water spilling out of a cup of tea, and when she held hands, Ty Lee's would begin to sweat uncontrollably.

"Are you nervous?" Azula had asked. It was the first time this happened, many months ago. It took Ty Lee a week to travel from the circus, which was at the time, on the furthest island of the Fire Nation, and Azula was anxious to see her.

"No, your hand is just really hot." Ty Lee replied, with a concerned voice.

"Yeah, they're like that…" Azula blushed.

"I'll get used to it." Ty Lee had said.

Azula lifted her head up off Ty Lee's stomach and took her hair down from the bun it was tied in daily. "Ty Lee, what the hell am I going to do?" She got up, put on a robe, and sat down at her vanity.

"What _can_ you do? You kind of just have to wait." Ty Lee suggested, rolling over.

"I can't just wait!" Azula said tensely. Her palms were open, gripping either side of her vanity, and the room began to smell vaguely of burning wood. "What if the idiots in the Earth Kingdom decide they can rule themselves? Or my brother comes back and decides he wants to be king? Or there's a terrible harvest and there's no food, and these bearded, overgrown children in the royal court expect me to-"

"I think you're overthinking it, Azula." Ty Lee got up, and put her arms around Azula's neck, noticing the steam coming off her hands speeding up, and then slowing down. "That didn't happen when they decided your father would be king."

"But then, there was a war. Father was busy fighting, and proving that he was strong, and noble, and worthy. There's no war for me to fight, and no light under their asses to speed up naming an heir."

"Then why don't you do what your father did?"

"I _can't_ do what my father did." She cried, angrily. "If I tried to do what my father did, without a war, I'd just be a mad queen."

"I don't think you should start a war, or kill people," Ty Lee continued. "I think you should be proving yourself to be the queen you are. Not a mad one, but a powerful, knowledgeable one."

Azula smiled, out of one corner of her mouth. "How so?" She brought a hand up to touch Ty Lee's arm still around her neck.

"Ouch," Ty Lee said, wincing when the hot skin of Azula's hand touched hers.

"Sorry," Azula quickly replied, but her hand didn't get any cooler.

"Why don't you travel across your kingdom?"

"I've seen all of the islands."

"You're queen of more than islands." Ty Lee whispered in her ear. Azula's skin cooled, to barely that of a person with a fever. "How can a kingdom love a queen they've never seen? You've got to go out there, talk to your people, and get them on your side. No royal court can argue with all the colonies."

Often Azula felt like her insides were an inferno, a hot madness that could never be contained, and to her, Ty Lee felt like an ocean. Azula was a burning vent at the bottom of the sea, and Ty Lee washed over her, and eventually, they'd form islands and kingdoms and trees and flowers; but for now, all Ty Lee had to do was calm her enough to keep her from burning up. Azula rolled her head back, hair falling down over Ty Lee's arm, and exhaled through her nose

Ty Lee asked, "Have you ever been to Ba Sing Se?"

* * *

Jet came to the Jade Dragon on Thursday, several hours after the sun had set. His hair was longer than Zuko had remembered, and as he came in the big open doors, he put out his cigarette.

"Li," He greeted, and smiled, putting his hand in the air in a familiar gesture.

"Hey," Zuko returned the greeting unenthusiastically. "How'd you find me?"

Jet smiled, one without teeth, and put his hand up over his eye.

Zuko said nothing.

"I heard you had some questions for me."

"And you had some for me, as well."

"You first."

"Would you like some tea?"

Jet laughed, and Zuko was taken aback. "Actually, I love tea. Oolong."

"Jasmine, fruit, or nut oolong?"

"Surprise me." Jet said, pulling up a seat, and sitting in it.

Zuko joined him several minutes later, with two cups of hot tea. "Grape is naturally sweet. It doesn't need honey, or milk." He said.

"I always take my tea black." Jet nodded, sipping his tea loudly, unashamed. "Anything else dilutes it."

"A young man after my heart!" Uncle exclaimed, patting Jet on the back. Such an action would make Zuko spill tea all over himself, but Jet was graceful and kept his back straight. "You must be,"

"Jet," The three all spoke at once, and Jet's face was proud.

"You have much to teach my nephew about tea."

"And you must be the famous Poh." Jet introduced himself, putting down his tea, in order to shake Uncle's hand, and bow his head, and only his head.

"Hardly famous, but Poh I am indeed." Uncle reciprocated Jet's actions.

"Does your nephew work for you?" Jet wasted no time.

"Yes, but he's young enough to start a career anywhere."

"I'd like him to work at my shop."

"I'd like to see your _shop."_ Zuko said, emphasizing the word shop with a questioning tone.

"That's exactly what I wanted to invite you to do."

"Go ahead, nephew." Uncle smiled, and placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "I'll stay and hold down the place."

Zuko turned his gaze to his uncle, then to Jet. "Can you excuse us for a moment?"

Jet didn't respond, but just nodded and stood up. "I'll meet you outside then."

"Uncle, what if this is dangerous? How do I know if I can trust him?" Zuko asked, in a hushed tone.

"Are you telling me you lived with a sword master almost a year and you can't defend yourself against some long haired street kid? Maybe you can get some money and we can buy a bigger place."

Zuko's eyes narrowed.

"Or something you want, or whatever. Just don't forget about your old Uncle. Now go, nephew. You can take care of yourself. Nothing in this city is worse than what happened in that palace."

Zuko sighed. "I guess I'll see you tonight."

Uncle smiled at him, and they parted wordlessly.

Jet had already started smoking when returned.

"You've got an hour." Zuko said.

"Should be plenty." When Jet smiled, it made Zuko feel like he was more confident than Zuko would ever be. "Tell me about yourself Li."

They started walking, and Zuko gave his usual story. "I was orphaned when I was nine. My uncle took me in, and his son was drafted. After his son was killed, he was drafted, so we left. Him first, to set up, then me two years later. I lived with a friend until then." He told it with familiar staged sorrow and joy, putting in parts of his own soul in where they fit in.

"You don't have to tell me, but what happened to your parents?"

Zuko didn't respond. No one had asked him before.

"Mine were killed by the Fire Nation. We were farmers outside of Ba Sing Se. Before the war ended, a man with dark hair that grew around his face rode in on a horse, and burned our crops with his hands. My father went outside, and my mother stayed with me and my sister. The man demanded my father surrender whatever food he had to the army, and he refused. The man got off his horse, and repeated the offer. My father refused again, and the man hurled him into the burning field. My father ran out, with his clothes and flesh on fire. We could smell him burning. The commander knocked down our door, and at least ten other men stormed inside. While the soldiers ate our food, he with the hair around his face found us. My mother sobbed and begged for our lives, saying to take her instead and to let her children live. That general grabbed her by the hair, and threw her to his men saying, 'you heard the bitch. Take her.' We never saw her again, but I'll never forget how I heard her sob. My sister and I were bound and taken hostage. We were told we'd work in the mines until we burned like the trash we were. The smoke from all the fires they set gave my sister black lung, and she died in a week."

Zuko couldn't meet his eye. The commander he'd described was Zhao, and had been his Godfather. "How did you escape?"

"The commander stayed in Ba Sing Se, and while his men got drunk, I snuck out. I changed my name and stayed here."

"My father was a soldier who'd gone rogue, or mad from the war. We never knew. He was tired of fighting for a king he hated, and was killed. He was a hateful man, and loved war, but wanted the power for himself." Zuko imagined his uncle and father as the same man, two sides of a coin, brothers becoming one. "My mother was ill."

"Who gave you the scar?"

"My father." He told the truth.

Jet wasn't shocked, but pressed. "How old were you?"

"Nine." Again, he told the truth.

"Even though he's gone, my father was always kind. I'm sorry."

"I am too."

They finally made eye contact, and Zuko's breath caught in his throat.

"Apologies don't make a big difference." Jet put out his cigarette. "All we can do now is try to live."

"That's what I'm trying to do now." Zuko looked up, past the low homes and tall towers into the night sky. "Except you keep bothering me."

"I don't mean to bother you." Jet apologized as much as he was going to. "I sorta felt a connection to you. Now I know why."

Zuko waited for an answer.

"We both hate the Fire Nation."

"I suppose."

"And we're both trying to find a new home, here." Jet smiled, and Zuko himself felt confident for a moment. "I think we'd work well together." Jet held out his hand, and Zuko shook it. "Your hand feels warm."

"Yeah, they're like that..." Zuko blushed as much as he would allow himself to in the cold night.


	3. III - A Gentlemen's Agreement

"Where exactly do you live?" Zuko asked. Jet had offered to take him to his apartment to talk about what exactly he did, and they had to been walking for almost thirty minutes. Ba Sing Se seemed to spread endlessly across his field of sight. The capital didn't even stretch out this much. There were elegant, and regal parts of the city, where men and women with ornate hair pieces and clothing walked to elaborate homes. There were parts of the city that were desolate and almost empty, dusty and dry. Then they got to where Jet said, "it's close," and the city was crowded, but dirty. The homes were old, and in need of repair, the shops boarded up tightly for the night, and the people scattered and laid about the city, barely clothed, and looking sick.

"Where are we?"

"The Lower Ring. This is where most of the refugees live. Your fortunate that your uncle has made himself a good living."

Zuko felt small as a man among the people he saw, whom he should be living like. His privilege as a prince continued to follow him. "I am fortunate."

They navigated through the crowds of people, until they came to a door in a wall that seemed like solid rock. "Is this where you live?" Zuko asked, trying to hide his scowl but not succeeding.

"Sorta, have you heard of the Crystal Catacombs?"

"It was originally carved by the earth benders of Ba Sing Se," Zuko assumed they had been destroyed during the war. "Are they still there?"

"Follow me," Jet offered him his hand, and Zuko just looked at it questioningly. "It's a rocky climb." Jet opened the door and showed him down a flight of earthen stairs, uneven and worn.

"I'll manage." Zuko replied, embarrassed for some reason.

Jet shrugged, and lead him down the stairs, informing him of changes in slope. The hallway immediately grew darker as Jet shut the door, but he walked down them with practiced care. "The steps are bigger here, so watch out."

"You don't have to guide me. I'm not an old woman." Zuko announced.

"Alright," Jet said, throwing his hands up in a gesture Zuko could barely see. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Zuko had trained in darkness, night being the natural enemy of fire benders. His master had said he had to harness the light within him, take the fire burning in his belly and light the darkness himself. However, Zuko was unwilling to let Jet know he was a fire bender, yet. If the situation became dangerous, he could quickly overpower him, with the element of his birth and that of surprise. But if the situation wasn't dangerous, he could hold off on letting Jet know, possibly for forever. He could feel the hatred in Jet's words when he told him about his family, and Zuko wasn't ready to let that hatred be leashed onto him.

Without being able to fire bend, his training in darkness was essentially useless, but his eyes adjusted more quickly than he had expected.

Jet didn't say anything as the slope decreased, and Zuko anticipated a much larger step. The prince lost his balance, and Jet swiftly turned around, and caught him by the shoulders. Zuko tried to take a breath in, but it caught in his throat. He was thankful for the darkness to hide his flushing face, but he was sure Jet's trained eyes could see it.

Jet began, "Are you sure you don't want me to-"

"I'm okay."

Jet didn't respond, but he moved back so he was beside Zuko and placed his arm under his. He locked his elbow, and pulled him up.

"I really don't-"

"I need your skull intact for the job." Jet responded quickly, starting to walk again. "And I assume you need it as well."

Zuko frowned, but followed his lead. "Is this how you take girls down here?"

"Hah, rarely," Jet smiled.

"Can you tell me about this job? What exactly do you do?"

"You could say I work in entertainment."

"Entertainment? Like, theatre?"

Jet laughed. "No, not like theatre. More like entertainment and leisure activities."

Zuko didn't say anything, but his lack of response showed more curiosity than he'd let on.

"Many people in this part of town are miserable. I can't put it nicely. The life of a refugee isn't a pleasant one, nor is the life of a poor worker. I offer them ways to help."

"Like what?" Zuko tried to loosen his elbow from Jet's, unsuccessfully.

"Hold on, you'll love this."

They came to the end of the stairwell, where there was a dim light. In spite of the well-anticipated light, both Jet and Zuko found themselves looking at each other. Zuko skin was tinged a light pink, and Jet made sure to take notice of how his expression changed when they walked into the brightness of the catacombs. Light green crystals glowed around them, providing the much needed light. The floor was dry, and the walls were high. Carved into the stone, were rooms covered by tapestries with characters written above them in symbols familiar to Zuko but arranged in foreign patterns. It had to be a different dialect.

He inhaled as he took it all in. It was more beautiful than the palace had been, even during celebrations and festivals. But the smell was heavy and dank, the air thick with unfamiliar smokes.

"You _live_ here?" Zuko asked, turning his eyes to Jet whose gaze remained unbroken.

"Yeah, and work here. Let me show you." In spite of the light, they kept their arms interlocked as they walked. No one was around, and the place was calmly quiet, interrupted only by the sound of their footsteps. Jet invited him into a specific room, hidden by a green and gold tapestry. The room revealed a spot on the ground for sleeping, several books, pipes, cigarettes, a pad with poorly written names, and addresses scrawled on it, and a light, unlit. Zuko had to fight the temptation to light it himself in order to see more. Jet lifted the tapestry for Zuko, who looked for a place to sit. Upon finding none, he stood, and waited for Jet to join him.

"The Lower Ring is the poorest part of the city. When I came to Ba Sing Se, it was the only place for me to live. I fell in with who some would call the wrong crowd, but they protected and took good care of me." He lit the light to tint the walls a warm gray, and light a cigarette with the same match. He offered one to Zuko, who declined. He continued. "We called ourselves the Freedom Fighters, because the war was still going on. We fought against becoming colonies, but clearly we weren't successful. Because of our radical nature, we started holding meetings down here. Before I go any further, you should know: this is where most of the city's prostitution and drug deals go through."

Zuko was taken aback. In the royal courts, he heard of them using opiates after war injuries, which turned into lifelong dependences. His father claimed they were weak, and broken half-men, with a part of their brain destroyed. His father was the same man who had many, many mistresses, from all the nations, highborn and otherwise. Sometimes, men outside the palace would smoke sweet smelling leaves, not as harsh smelling as cigarettes, but just as potent. Determined to show an expression that would convey knowledge of this part of the world, Zuko looked at him sternly. "Do you want me to be a prostitute?" His expression remained, but his voice broke at the last word.

"No." Jet was serious, as though he hadn't noticed.

"Do you want me to sell drugs?"

"No." Jet shook his head sympathetically.

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"I don't do anything with the prostitution side of it, but I do know most of them. I do, however, have a hand in the opium trade. It's the biggest seller down here. Sure deal, and also a safe deal. Plenty of people in high places use it, as well as the people down here."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Full disclosure. If you're gonna work with me, you should know what all you're getting into. Call it a gentlemen's agreement."

"This sounds illegal."

"I don't see you going to the Dai Li, though."

Zuko swallowed. "So what exactly do you want me to do? I'm not gonna sell myself, or drugs, so what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to be a fighter."

Azula had called the Royal Court to meet with her. Mai had asked if she had the authority to do so, but Azula had only said authority must be made, not given.

"I've called you here to propose a plan." She began, her words practiced and careful.

"Yes, your majesty." General Zhao replied.

"I would like to tour my kingdom, and see what they require from me as their queen."

The court was silent.

"If I am to be queen, that is," She backtracked, not as expertly as she had executed the first portion of her speech. "I want them to know that I'm a contender, and I would like to see what they'd like see change."

"That's quite unorthodox, your highness." Zhao commented.

"If I know how to serve my people better, I feel my candidacy stands a better chance. All I've seen of life is within our palace walls, barely even that of our outlying islands. I serve an entire nation. And even if I'm not queen, I hope you'd still take what the people and I have to say into consideration when making decisions that affect the entire kingdom."

"Certainly," General Zhao was taken aback by the final sentence. "Where would you plan to travel first?"

"The Earth Kingdom, as there is already great unrest in the colonies."

"I never knew you cared so much about your people."

"General Zhao, it's in my blood." She feigned a pained expression, placing a hand over her heart. "They're my people. I'm no longer conquering them. We're now building a grand nation with them. They should be a part of it too."

"How diplomatic of you," Announced a voice from the court.

"The earth kingdom would welcome you, princess." Added a member of the court representing said kingdom.

"I graciously accept your offer." Azula kept her hand over heart, and bowed her head. "My own court, Mai and Ty Lee, will accompany me. We'll leave tomorrow, first thing in the morning for New Azulon. It's only fitting the city baring my name should be the first place we visit."

"If we need to contact you, we'll write to the Earth Kingdom Embassy." General Zhao bowed to her.

"I appreciate it, General Zhao."

The court dispelled, and Azula was surrounded quickly by Mai and Ty Lee.

"Do you think they fell for it?" Ty Lee asked.

"Zhao knows that's all horse shit." Azula sighed, and let her back relax against the throne. "But he knows how much the peasants in the dirt kingdom will love to hear that."

"Clearly they already did." Ty Lee chimed in.

"Predictably," Azula commented. "It's like playing Pai Sho against a toddler… Mai, who else are they considering for the throne?" Azula did not allow herself to relax for this question. She placed a hand on her obviously tense neck and almost picked her head up by it.

"You, Zhao, and…" She paused.

"And?" Azula's eyes narrowed.

"Your brother."

"How?" She exhaled through her nose, and Ty Lee could barely see the steam leaving with the air.

"I don't see it myself, but he's still technically the first born. And he's a boy. He has basically all the qualifications of other Fire Lords."

She drug her hand from her neck to meet the other one, clasped in front of her like in prayer. Lining her digits up precisely, she placed them in front of her lips. Ty Lee and Mai both now could feel the heat conducting through the gold of the throne. It was like stepping out of a shaded room into a humid valley, with the merciful clouds miles and miles above.

Ty Lee had grown more and more afraid of Azula like this in the past few weeks. She wore a scarf Azula had sent to her from the furthest islands to cover the various burns on her body, some light and oozing, some dark and raised under the warm flesh, and some already faded to scar. Azula had always apologized, always talked about how she would have burned herself up had Ty Lee not extinguished the warm, dark feeling inside of her. She would thank her for staying with her, and sometimes cried, but not as much as she used to. At first, all she could think was of how much pain Azula had to be in. The flames of madness lapped at the insides of her stomach and her mind, until her body was fevered. Her father was dead, her mother had never loved her, and the only warmth Azula knew was the darkness inside of her. It comforted Azula, like sleeping, and now Ty Lee was waking her. Ty Lee took the burns with pride, deciding this was her sacrifice for the well being of the kingdom. She would burn so they wouldn't have to.

But that didn't stop them from hurting.

"He can't be a king as long as he's not here." Azula finally said, looking to Ty Lee. Her eyes were calm, and so Ty Lee smiled.

"Not a good king anyway." Mai answered. "They said they'd post a huge ransom for him if he became king. With _his_ face with warrants for all that money, surely someone would notice him."

"I say we start for them." Azula announced.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm saying," She finally put her hands down back to the throne by her sides, and pushed herself up. "We find Zuzu ourselves." She let it sink in. Mai smiled, and Ty Lee felt the need to itch one of her burns, against her better knowledge. "I can hire whatever bounty hunter I want in the world, and find him quicker than any of these bearded children in the royal court."

"And what will we do when we find him?" Ty Lee asked.

"Finish what father started seven years ago."

Zuko cracked his knuckles, and exhaled through his nose, a short puff like a bull. He took a traditional fighting stance, and locked eyes with Jet.

"Do you mean a freedom fighter? Like against the Fire Nation?" Zuko had asked quickly, after Jet had first proposed it, long before they met eyes directly across from each other.

"No, we're not about that so much anymore." Jet smiled and laughed, but Zuko had barely caught the latter. "By a fighter, I mean like a fighter for hire."

"Like a mercenary?"

"You're not in the capital anymore, Li." Jet looked at him sternly, like a teacher correcting a child, but his soft voice betrayed his face. "People pay to see fights. They're angry that the war is over with no one left for them to fight. They pay me handsomely to see it, and gamble handsomely amongst each other on winners."

Zuko didn't say anything, but his mouth twisted in words unspoken.

Jet continued, "You'd make 40% of what I get a night. That's the most I've ever paid someone to fight."

"Why me?" Zuko exhaled. He had a moment of panic at the sheer idea. Even if he wasn't a prostitute, he was selling his body and skills that people in the colonies had paid for him to hone. It felt dirty, and like something he couldn't tell Uncle. He'd never want to fight in a war, and fighting in general just seemed useless at this point. There was nothing to conquer, nothing to fight for; just fighting to dirty your hands and taste the blood in your mouth.

"You look like you won't lose," Jet said with a smirk.

Something in his comment, and his smirk, made Zuko's stomach tighten. "What makes you so sure of that?" Zuko asked, allowing the comment to go to his pride, just a little.

"You're a tough guy, Li. You had your face completely fucked by your own father, and you look like you've had some training in fighting. Most of these kids here are street kids, looking to make 20 coins. I can give you names of two dozen guys who'd let you kick the shit out of them if they knew 20 coins were in it for them. It's easy work, especially for someone who looks like you."

"And I'm the only tough guy you've seen in all of Ba Sing Se?"

"The only one I'd want to work with."

Zuko stared at the dark earthen floor beneath him. The proposal still made him anxious, but there was something about the way Jet worded it that made him want to venture into his world, where people sold their bodies and then destroyed them internally for high prices underground. It was something he'd have only heard whispered about in the capital, and his family would have sheltered him from, but rightfully so. He didn't trust himself completely in this situation. He imagined a crowd of people throwing food and garbage at him for fire bending without realizing it. He imagined the hatred Jet would stare at him with, and how heavy and empty that made him feel, like he swallowed something thick and sticky.

But the way Jet was staring at him now made him feel like his heart would beat through his throat, and like he he strangely, wanted to step closer, closer to him and the world he called home.

"I'll consider it."

"I need a promise that you'll come back to me." Jet's wording, again, drew Zuko in. If he ever failed at whatever his job was, he'd make an excellent orator.

"Like what?"

"Let's fight." Jet said, as plainly as one would suggest replacing broken shoes. With the same casualty as ever, Jet asked to fight the former prince of the Fire Nation.

"You wanna fight me?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah," Jet smiled like he was anticipating how much he'd enjoy it.

"I'm the son of a soldier. I trained at the Royal Academy in swords and hand-to-hand." He left out the training he'd done most extensively.

"I'm by no means inexperienced."

"I was trained with the intention of being able to kill someone."

"You wouldn't kill me though, would you?" Jet cocked his head.

Zuko didn't say anything. There was a tense moment where they stood apart, but facing each other as always.

"If I win, you stay and fight with me."

"And if I win," Zuko began, "you never ask me about this again."

"Not leave you alone?"

Zuko paused before he responded. "If you wanted to,"

"Absolutely not," Jet shook his head, and moved to shake his hands.

"Let's not shake." Zuko said, exhaling through his nose. "This isn't a gentlemen's agreement. It's just a man's word."

A fighting stance without fire bending felt a little awkward to Zuko, but he remember training with his swords master. His sword fighting trainer was born into a noble family without the spark. He couldn't bring honor to his family with fire bending, so he studied swords and fighting until he was talented enough to train the prince. "No weapons?" Zuko asked.

They had moved from Jet's apartment to an open space, at least a mile away from where they'd entered. The place seemed abandoned but Zuko feared that someone would interrupt them. Part of him wanted someone to, and part of him sincerely wanted to lose.

"None in the ring, or out here." Jet agreed. "Man to man." He twisted his head and cracked his neck audibly.

They waited, in tense thick air, for one of them to make the first move. Their eyes both said, "no, you first."

Jet grew tired of waiting first, and charged, arms held in a cross in front of him, before leaping forward to bring a punch down on Zuko's skull. Zuko read his moves like a child's book, and ducked down, bringing his elbow up to catch Jet's jaw. He backed up, and audibly coughed, covering his mouth. He brought his hand down, and Zuko saw he was smiling.

Jet moved first, again, clearly going for the face, but this time for a kick. Zuko had spent hours with his trainer, just watching fights. "Often times, you can gauge your opponent's talent, strengths and weaknesses, just by watching him. But you have to know what to watch." Feet were key, arms were secondary, but their chest was vital too. If possible, catch how fast they were breathing. Labored breaths meant a tired opponent, and so a wise fighter could save his strength. Most people, who weren't benders, favored either their feet or their fists. A surprising number favored feet, because legs are generally stronger than arms, but if you're showy, you prefer arms. Zuko had trained to be a master of both, but Jet was clearly showy.

Zuko blocked again, catching Jet's arm by bending his at the elbow. Jet had clearly predicted this, and went for a sweeping kick at his legs. Zuko jumped, and dodged the kick but lost his balance slightly enough for Jet to reach for a punch with his other arm. He caught Zuko square in the jaw, and the prince recoiled. What Jet lacked in precision, he made up for in brute strength. His jaw was numb upon impact but was now starting to hurt.

They squared off and stared at each other. Jet's breathing was staggered slightly, like he'd just came up from swimming under water for too long, and the air was sweeter than usual.

Zuko moved first this time, aiming for the stomach, not necessarily a clean move, but a quick way to end it. He positioned his arm as though he was going for the face, and Jet dodged that, but missed the elbow hitting him between the ribs. He choked a little, the sound familiar but unsettling to Zuko, and in the moment between it happening, and Jet knowing what had happened, Zuko was able to reach up, and hit Jet's throat with his open palm.

He bit his tongue; Zuko could hear the wet cough that came afterwards. Jet staggered back, and Zuko half expected him to say, "alright that's enough." He didn't want to hit him in the mouth, and get his teeth.

"That's what I'm talking about Li!" Jet cried, excitedly. Zuko could see the blood in-between the spaces of his teeth.

"I don't want to fight you anymore!" Zuko admitted.

"But we're just getting started!" Jet said, running right back to him, aiming to punch his face in a proud display again. Zuko caught his fist in his own. Just like an untrained fighter, Jet attempted, again, and Zuko caught his fist, again. Jet pushed into the fists, trying to push him to the ground, but Zuko held his ground, albeit with some force. They stared at each other, and Zuko blushed for a reason he couldn't explain. Jet laughed.

In the middle of their stand off, he laughed like he was hearing a familiar joke.

Zuko hit his forehead with his own, and watched Jet's eyes cross as he watched what happened.

When Jet stumbled back, Zuko took the opportunity to charge at him. A choice he'd never have made in the academy, but no one was grading him here. He pushed Jet down with a bent forearm and as Jet fell, a hand went back behind his head. Jet's body fell with a thud but his head landed rather gently on Zuko's hand.

"Why'd you do that?" Jet almost screamed at him as much as he could with his breathing still off from the hit to his ribs.

"I don't want to fight you anymore."

"Are you saying I won?" Jet smirked, the blood dripping slowly out of the corner of his mouth.

"I'm not the one bleeding on the floor."

Jet exhaled and looked defeated, and with that Zuko moved his hand from behind Jet's head to his shoulder, almost about to lift himself up. But Jet put his hand behind Zuko's back and pushed him back down. His nose hit the ground beside Jet's ear and he swore, the word making Jet shiver involuntarily. They both momentarily froze, feeling too close and heated for it just to be a fight.

Zuko felt that strange sensation in his stomach rise higher into his throat, to tighten it and make him unable to say anything else, and lower as well. Much lower.

Jet took advantage of this and flipped him over.

Zuko couldn't think of anything to say but, "stop."

"Is that a forfeit?" Jet asked, dripping a bit of slobbery blood on Zuko's chin.

Zuko said nothing, but exhaled angrily, and noticed the smoke on his breath before he could think to stop it.

As often had happened in their fight, there was a tense pause, where Zuko held his breath, hoping Jet didn't notice.

Jet cocked his head, and asked, still with red staining his teeth, "Are you a fire bender, Li?"


	4. IV - Tactics

Zuko had waited for Jet's respond with baited breath, no longer trying to hide the smoke escaping from his body. His heart stilled, and then beat twice as fast, and his stomach felt like it had fallen out of him onto the cold, earth floor.

Immediately, Jet has a visceral reaction, and pushed himself up off him, a panic set deep within his eyes. His movement were no longer flashy and showy, but nervous and jerky.

Zuko pushed himself up, and all he could think to say was, "I-I'm sorry, Jet."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He cried, backing up further and further away from him.

"Why do you think?" His voice expressed all the exasperation he could gather from within himself. "Everyone would hate me. Even I hate me."

"How could you?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"How could you?" He repeated, growing in volume.

"I didn't do anything but try to be your friend. I should be upset. How could you?"

They stayed a decent distance from each other, and in a moment that almost seemed calm, Jet let out a scream. A scream from somewhere dark, and old inside of him, a scream that took years to build and echoed through each of Zuko's bones. And he let out another one.

Again, and again.

Zuko went to move closer, staggering and then running, but Jet violently backed away.

His hands started to tremble, and his body felt cold with sweat. "I'm sorry" was all he could say, over and over. His face contorted and he wanted to cry, but he began to feel his tears steaming off his face. He apologized until his legs collapsed and he fell to the ground in front of him, but Jet continued to scream and convulse.

These moments felt like they stretched over hours, but within a few minutes, the girl who had come to talk to him at the Jade Dragon found them both. He didn't recognize her at first, but Jet immediately did. He stopped screaming, but started inhaling deeply, the same kind that comes with sobbing.

Zuko had seen this with soldiers and people he'd trained with- a scene or a word would drive them back to a place in the war, and there was no dragging them out of it. They had to relive whatever they were going through. Zuko felt small when it happened, but felt even smaller than before now, knowing he had unintentionally driven someone there.

"What the hell happened?" She asked, unphased.  
_

Azula had never liked traveling. In spite of how she presented herself, she had an incredibly sensitive stomach, and traveling by boat made her sick. Traveling to the islands around the kingdom had always made her nauseous, and she never imagined herself willingly doing it as part of her job as queen. It was now an inescapable part of her plan, and even though she'd never thought of it on her own - and seldom liked ideas not of her own design - she had to admit it was pretty impressive.

She really couldn't say no to Ty Lee anyway.

A train was not much better than a boat; a little steadier but able to go much faster.

She put her head in her hands, and pressed hard, trying to numb the pain in her head. "This had better be worth it." She muttered.

"It will be, and you know it."

"If I don't die on my way." Azula stood up. "I need to lay down." She announced. Ty Lee began to get up to follow her, out of instinct, but Azula quickly added, "Alone. For now, at least."

"I'll get you for dinner." Ty Lee had just smiled.

Azula needed more and more alone time recently, needing Ty Lee for brief spurts before needing to see her constantly, and then switching between the two. In the capital, Azula had ways to occupy her mind during the day, and came to Ty Lee as an escape. But now, they spent all day together, doing nothing but traveling. "It gets boring being with you all day," She commented while they were still on the boat. It hadn't hurt as much since she said it, but Azula was always curt. She still insisted on Ty Lee's quarters being beside hers, if not included in her suite when they were traveling.

As Azula got up, she stopped by Lo and Li's cabin on the train. "Have we gotten any mail?" She asked, peaking her head in and only her head past the door.

"Yes,"

"They were delivered by pigeon-hawk earlier this morning." They both responded and Azula was in to get the mail so quickly she couldn't distinguish who was saying what. As the princess walked, her head throbbing dully, she scanned through the letters and parcels.

There were letters for various members of the royal guard from their families, and based on Azula's policy of only having her men focus on task at hand, she'd keep those for them to read later. Or to practice fire bending with; they all basically said the same thing. Ty Lee got a package from the circus, which she received regularly. They contained updates on the various characters Ty Lee had explain to her countless times, and whom Azula never understood Ty Lee's fondness for, and hideous clothes. She'd drop that off later. None of these caught her attention, except a letter to Mai, from her father.

By the time she got to her sleeping quarters - a suit generally used by the king to have room for his close family, but upon Azula's request, the only person with access was Ty Lee - she had already opened the seal with her fingernails and sat down on her bedside to begin reading it.

 _"My Dearest Daughter,_

 _Your mother, Tom-Tom and I all miss you terribly. We wish you, the princess, and the rest of your friends a safe and healthy journey."_

"Could you get more boring?" Azula said to herself aloud, her head hurting more with her malcontent. She contemplated burning it out of sheer annoyance but noticed her name further down.

Past the section of useless information about some child, she read:

 _"Commander Zhao is still concerned about Azula acceding to the throne. He fears she has not properly grieved for the death of her father, and the simultaneous loss of her brother. She is not in the emotional state to handle such responsibility, and perhaps might not be for years. She is still only fourteen years old, and has much maturing to do. In order for the nations to accept a woman as their leader, she should at least be of age. As her godfather, he fears for her mental state of mind first and foremost, and has prioritized locating Zuko before appointing anyone to the throne-"_

Azula stopped reading and balled up the letter, throwing it into the corner. Her neck felt as tense as her head. She looked out her window to gage the time, but the sun rose and set at different times further north, and it only confused her more. Originally, she wanted to see if she had time to take a bath before dinner, but even if there wasn't enough time, everyone would still wait for her.

She stepped into the adjoining room with the claw-footed tub and called for a solider to fetch enough water to fill up the tub.

"Shall I have it heated for you, your highness?"

"No, it's never warm enough when it gets back here. I'll warm it myself." She sneered.

She sat at her vanity while he went to gather her water, taking down her hair and examining her face. Her face was slender like her fathers, but not as long as his yet. She always looked more like him, which many girls would hate; being compared to their father was something Mai hated, but Azula cherished. If she inherited a single drop of blood from her mother, it was too much. She refused to wear makeup. Ty Lee enjoyed it, though she didn't need it, and Mai both enjoyed and most days did truly need it, but Azula felt like it was a waste of her time. For her coronation, she would color her lips a deep red and that would be the only time. Maybe if she got married, but she'd have to be queen and makes some executive changes before she would marry.

Three men carried large ceramic pots of water, knocked, entered and poured the water into the tub. They offered to heat it again, and Azula again refused.

Once they left, Azula locked the door, and undressed. She put her hair up in a tight bun, scrunching her face up at the ache in her head, and resolved that she needed to cut her hair soon. It was getting to be too long to pull up with ease, and she never wore it down. Her father always wore his in a high topknot, and she insisted on continuing the tradition. Zuko had taken to wearing his down, and cut too short to pull up, which Azula had told him made him look like he should be working in manure than in a palace, multiple times.

She examined herself while she brought the heat from her belly down her legs into the soles of her feet. Her legs were long, but not nearly long enough. She was no more than 155 centimeters, and next to her father, she barely was able to see his shoulders. She willed her legs to grow longer, her face to look older, and her arms to swell more where there should be muscle.

As she stepped in the tub, the heat from her feet rose up quickly until the water steamed lightly. She sat down and soaked until her skin was tinged a light pink. She had told Ty Lee this as best as she could express it, but heat brought her a strange sense of comfort. A temperature that other people would instinctively shy away from made Azula feel at home and safe. As a child, she'd mastered the boring art of body temperature control, spreading the fire deep in her belly to her hands, feet, throat and even up to her skull, waves of heat gently lapping at the ache there. She often felt cold and was able to warm herself, and found this most useful. In using more and more, she grew more comfortable with making herself hotter, and hotter, a feverish temperature that would make other people cringe was Azula's comfort point. She'd even managed to stop herself from sweating.

When she and Zuko had been friends, or at least confidants in childhood, he would speak to her about how his anxiety would sit in his stomach. The image of this ball of discomfort, a black thick lump inside, first gave her the idea to use her prodigal talent to heat her body to break it up. She'd suggested it to him, but his skills couldn't compare, then or now, to her own. She began when she'd see her parents fight, and she couldn't go and hit her mother herself, she'd start to break up that nervousness with her own body heat.

When her mind raced, and most people would feel anxious or nervous, Azula simply made herself hotter. She watched the water start to evaporate in warm streams lifting up out of the tub.

Ty Lee had said it didn't make sense, but she had stopped pulling back when Azula burnt her. She never meant to, but she certainly never took steps to stop it. She was just doing what she'd done to herself for years, and wasn't going to stop. If Ty Lee wanted her to stop, she'd ask.

She liked her baths hot and long, and by the time Azula had to heat up the water a third time, her locked door opened.

Ty Lee was the only one with a key.

"I figured you were here." Only when the door was open, did Azula notice how much steam had accumulated in the room. It was like stepping into a sauna for Ty Lee.

Azula didn't say anything, and sighed. Ty Lee immediately understood.

"What's wrong?" She asked, walking up to the tub through the steam.

"I'm too young." Azula said. "And my head hurts."

"Too young for what?"

"People think I'm too young to be queen."

"Who told you that?"

Azula said nothing.

"There's nothing you can do about how old you are." She said, kneeling by the bathtub and putting her hand on her damp back. The skin there was hot, but Ty Lee had gotten used to it and said nothing.

"I know that, but no one's going to want a child for a queen."

"You're not a child though. You're just-"

"I'm fourteen. No one wants a fourteen-year-old making laws, and giving commands. I'm more a bossy little sister than a queen."

Ty Lee said nothing, knowing there was more Azula meant to say.

"I wish there were a war, or a tragedy or something to show that I'm a leader. Right now, I just look like a child. Zuko's a joke, but these old kingdoms have old ideas. These old men control everything and between an old man like them, or a young man they can make like them, I don't stand a chance. People would rather have Zhao ruling because they know he can fight and he can command."

"If you say that, people will believe it." Anyone else saying that would be been burnt up on the spot, but Azula allowed her to go on. "If you show them the same confidence and power you show me, Zhao and Zuko won't even be competition. In the Earth Kingdom, Zhao is hated. Mai's dad even told her."

Ty Lee took a moment to pause and stood herself up firmly on her knees, asserting her position even further. "We're not here to make friends in the Royal Court, even though you still have people loyal to you there. You're here to get the Earth Kingdom, which hates Zhao and hates men who look like soldiers who killed families here. Even if Zhao has himself appointed, if you can make allies in the Earth Kingdom, they could overthrow him. You could lead them in it."

"I don't want to lead these filthy idiots. I just want to be queen!" Azula screamed, and pressed two clenched fists into the ceramic walls of the tub, sending cracks down either side. Steaming under the water, Azula only had her head and ears peeking out at Ty Lee. The cracks only went down about half way, but water was still leaking out of the tub. Ty Lee continued to kneel down, not caring or knowing if she was getting wet.

"You can't just be appointed, though. We already know that. We have to use strategy and manipulate people. And you love strategy. It's more your style than war anyway. It's cleaner and more sophisticated."

Perhaps she was being childish, but it was exhausting traveling, and she hadn't even met the people of the Earth Kingdom. She didn't know Earth Kingdom people, or what they liked, or what they wanted from a ruler. They probably wanted to be their own separate body, and Azula would refuse and they'd hate her the same way they hated her father. "I won't let them be their own country, so there's no point."

Ty Lee was good at making connections Azula had made in her head, and never bothering to explain to anyone else, or she was getting better at pretending at least. "They don't need to be their own country. They can't be really. they don't have the resources to provide for themselves."

"At least not after the war."

"Absolutely, I had never even thought of that." Flattery worked with Azula, even though the princess had never mastered that art herself. "So, they want to hear that you can help them provide for themselves, not have them be entirely self-sufficient."

"That sounds good." Azula nodded resolutely. "And I'll say I'll lower taxes. They love hearing that." A wave of cool, one that Azula would normally burn up before it began, came over her - a wave rushing over the burnt ashes after a eruption. Ty Lee was the only person that could do that to her, before she boiled herself in a tub. Azula said nothing but stood and grabbed Ty Lee's hand to stand with her. She watched the steam come off Ty Lee's pale skin, and Ty Lee embraced her damp frame. In her arms, Azula felt her temperature cool and the uneasiness she felt after reading that letter rise up into the air with the steam. She let her head sink between Ty Lee's neck and shoulder.

"They're waiting for us to start eating." Ty Lee said, shaking her damp pant legs.

"I knew they would." Azula said, putting on a bathrobe and walking with Ty Lee out of their suite and into the dining car.

Azula smiled as she entered the car and observed who all was there. "Oh, June, you made it. How lovely."  
_

It took Jet three hours to calm down. Smellerbee and Zuko had sat with him for the first hour before he calmed down enough for Zuko to pick him up and carry him back to his room in the heart of the Crystal Catacombs. He had stopped screaming and sobbed quietly but was shaking violently the whole time. Smellerbee told him to say nothing, and so for the three hours, they were silent, looking at each other and nodding and shaking heads for yeses and nos. When they arrived back at Jet's place, Zuko placed him on his cot on the floor, and covered him with a blanket, before making tea for him and Smellerbee.

They drank outside.

"I knew you were a fire bender." She started.

"How?"

"You're from the Fire Nation," She drank her tea and said matter-of-factly. "Most people who are fire benders are from the Fire Nation."

"Yeah, but not everyone from the Fire Nation is a bender."

"Fire benders have a spark in their eyes. I'm from the Fire Nation myself. I'm one of five kids, and the only one without the spark."

"I'm sorry." Zuko said. "Originally, they didn't think I was a fire bender, and my father wanted to have me killed."

"You should tell Jet that." She said, smiling. "He loves a tragic backstory."

"I never meant to-"

"It's not your fault. It'd be immature to blame you for this. You can't control being born a bender, as much as you can't control what happened to Jet. He's just sensitive still. He has these flashbacks sometimes, and we can't shake him out of it."

"I don't blame him."

She looked up at him, with large, thoughtful eyes, wondering if she should tell him something, or just hold her breathe and drink more tea.

"I feel terrible," Zuko confessed. "I think Jet's really-" He searched for the word. "Really-"

"He likes you too."

"He what?"

Smellerbee didn't say anything, so Zuko continued, after an awkward moment. "I know what happened to him and I feel terrible to have brought those feelings back."

"He told you?" Smellerbee asked, putting down the tea.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just stay out here." She shook her head and said, as she stepped in through the tapestry over the opening. Taken aback, Zuko followed her instructions and continued to drink his tea, and vaguely hoped Uncle wasn't waiting for him.

Smellerbee sat by Jet on the bed. Originally she thought he was asleep, but he jumped a little when she sat down.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, for now."

"You told him?"

"What?"

"You told him about your family?"

He rolled over and looked at her. His eyes were deep back in his head, but he was about as himself as he was going to get. "Yeah, it just happened Smellerbee."

"It took you years to tell us that story."

"It gets easier with time." He rolled over, hoping to ignore her and maybe fall into a sleep that would make him forget the embarrassing episode.

"I don't want you to get hurt, Jet." She exhaled. "Why do you have to take everything so fast?"

"It isn't like that. It had just happened when I met you guys and it's easier to talk about now."

"I'm sure it is." She rolled him back over, surprisingly strong for her size. "You told him-"

"I know what I told him. He's different."

"How do you know that?"

"I just feel it, Smellerbee. Can I have that?"

Smellerbee couldn't say anything, so she just inhaled through her nose. She'd said all she could, and decided it was time for her to leave. "This is the last time I'm going to say anything about it. But I have one question."

"Of course you do."

"Do you really want him to fight?"

Jet thought for a second. "I thought I did. It was just a way to talk to him at first, but he's tough. He could handle it."

Smellerbee sighed. "I'm leaving."

"Send him in."

"I can't stand you." Smellerbee left and looked down to find Zuko still sitting on the ground, drinking his tea. "His royal assfuck wants you."

Zuko wasn't sure how to answer, so he said, "Uh, thanks. Don't forget your tea's still here."

"I'll be fine without it."

Zuko didn't pursue, and went inside. At first, he just stood in the doorway, unsure of where to go.

"Hey," Jet said.

"Hey."

"You can come inside."

"I am inside."

"Like, over here, I mean."

Zuko walked by his cot, and sat on the floor, his back facing Jet in shame. No one had ever really taught Zuko how to talk about something like this, and even conversations with Uncle never went too deep, for fear one of them would be hurt. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay."

"No, let me finish please."

Jet didn't say anything, but rolled over on his side to face Zuko's back.

"I should have known how sensitive you'd still be to fire bending, and I swear I was being really careful to hide it. I never wanted to be a soldier, or do what they did to people, and that's why I left. I never meant to have you find out, because I really don't want to be a fire bender. Not anymore."

Jet looked down at his cot, taking in the words he said. "You can come sit by me."

"I am sitting by you."

"Like, on the bed."

Zuko turned around, trying to hide that his face was flushing. "I- uh,"

"I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, but the floor's cold, and,"

"No, I will, it's just…" Zuko shook his head, and Jet moved his body over to make room for Zuko's. His cot was small, and barely able to fit them both. Zuko sat down, not quite ready to lay down, but his leg touched Jet's arm.

"You don't have to fight if you want. I know you'd be good at it."

"I don't want to accidentally fire bend." Zuko admitted. In the hours waiting for Jet to calm down, Zuko had considered Jet's offer and decided it would probably be a good idea to keep his fighting skills sharp. If the Fire Nation ever came looking for him, he'd need to be able to fight them off, and this would give him experience that working in a teashop wouldn't. Plus, he could always use more money. "I don't want people to hate me."

"We could give you a fake name."

He thought for a second. "Could I wear a mask?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not."

"I have a blue mask from my sword master. I could wear that."

"I mean, blue is probably the least likely color for a fire bender."

Zuko looked back at him, "I'll do it then."  
_

Azula sat across from June, crossed her legs under the table and folded her hands. Around the exclusive dinner table were Mai, Lo, Li, and June at the other end, with an empty seat for Ty Lee and Azula. "I know I said it before, but I'm truly glad you were able to make it."

"You didn't really leave me much for a choice." The bounty hunter sneered. She was sitting with her arms on the back of the chair casually but Azula could feel how angry she was. Azula had heard she was the best bounty hunter in the kingdom, as coincidently the most difficult to locate. When Azula heard how she tracked her targets, with some large fox-rodent type animal, she sent her soldiers to search for that. Once that beast of hers was caught, June followed blindly and quickly.

"I apologize for any inconvenience caused to you, but I'm very, very interested in your services." She began, as a plate was set in front of her. She looked down and frowned. "What is this?"

"It's an earth kingdom vegetable and meat stew." Said Lo.

"Very healthy, and very hearty." Finished Li.

The frown didn't leave Azula's face, but she continued. "June, I am not only incredibly interested in your services but would be able to pay you quite handsomely."

"Lots of people can pay me quite handsomely."

Azula exhaled, careful not to let out any steam or smoke just yet. "I'm the daughter of the Fire Lord, June. I can kill anyone would pay you more money and even you'd never be able to find them."

June disposition didn't change, but she asked, "What do you need me for?"

"My dear brother," Azula began. She wasn't eating the stew but just picking the meat out, and eating that.

"Azula, please eat with some manners." Li started.

"Act like you're the daughter of the Fire Lord." Lo continued.

"Why? It's not like anyone I have to impress is here." She retorted, grabbing a strip of meat with her fingers and eating it like she did as a child. "Now, if I may continue with June. My dear brother has gone scouting for us in the Earth Kingdom and has gone missing. We believe he's with some extreme revolutionaries and is in danger. I need you to find him for me. He may not be willing, but understand that my brother needs to come back to me."

"Sounds too political."

"I wouldn't be paying you to have a political opinion, just to find my brother. I'll pay you 50,000 now, a down payment if you will. And whatever else you want to charge me upon his return." Azula said matter of factly, stopping chewing her food to ask, "Do we have a deal?"

"I want 100,000, if this is as dangerous as you say."

"I'll pay you 50,000 now, and that when you bring back Zuko."

"I need it now."

"I need my brother."

"I thought money wasn't a problem for you."

"June, dear." Azula began, taking a piece of meat out from her stew and bringing as much heat as she could bring to her hands, and then narrowing it down to her thin fingers. "The only problem here is you." The meat, even soaked in broth, immediately caught on fire and began to burn in Azula's fingers. The princess didn't so much as blink. "Now that I've shared such information with you, my only options are to employ you, or kill you."

The car began to smell like burning flesh, but Azula let the meat and the tips of her fingers burn.

June's posture didn't change, but Azula noticed her brow and her painted black lips beginning to twitch in synch with each other, and she was starting to sweat. _Perfect_ , she thought.

"Now, either you take my 50,000 and find my brother, or I burn you right here and scatter your ashes in the Si Wong desert and leave your shirshu to find whatever bits of you it can."

June didn't say anything, but nodded.

"Delightful," Azula said, pressing her fingers together to extinguish the flame and let the burnt meat ashes fall to the ground. "You'll be accompanied by my most loyal soldiers, and even be given a room on the train. Your shirshu will have to remain outside though. Don't worry. We have a cage for it."

June sneered.

"It's a nice cage though!" Ty Lee added.

"And you can begin your search whenever you'd like." Azula finished. "If you happen to want to return to the train, or wherever we're staying, you can join us as well."

"I'd like to start tomorrow." June said, standing up. "What does your brother look like?"

"How the hell do you not know what the Fire Nation prince looks like?" Azula asked, aggravated she'd not know.

Mai said, "He's taller than Azula, but with the same hair color and eyes. He's got a scar on his face, and probably has cut his hair or done something to disguise himself. But he can't get rid of the scar."

Azula said nothing but stared at Mai for a moment, trying to look as disgusted as possible. "I'll pay you once I'm done with dinner," Azula said to June, turning to something that was less repulsive and smiled without her teeth. "It's been a pleasure working with you, June." She dismissed her from the table with her hand. "I'll have one of my men show you to your cabin."

"I need something that belonged to the prince."

"What do you mean?" Azula narrowed her eyes, just wanting to finish her dinner, and go to bed.

"To track his scent."

"I have something," Mai announced, looking at June to avoid Azula's stare. "I'll bring it to your cabin after dinner as well."

"Thanks," June said, and exited the dining cart. The soldier at the door offered her his hand, which she quickly walked away from and stormed out.

"She didn't seem happy." Lo or Li commented. Azula didn't notice which one.

"What the hell do you have of my brother's?"

"I have a letter he wrote me from when he was training with his sword master."

"I'm sure that smells like you by now with all the time you've read it." Azula laughed.

Mai said nothing.

"Sorry to dismantle your precious shrine to my miscreant brother, but we have more important things to do."

"I thought you were brilliant and tactical, Azula." Ty Lee announced. "She had no other choice but to do what you asked."

"And soon, neither will the rest of the Earth Kingdom. Or my brother." Azula smiled, with her teeth this time.

Jet and Zuko didn't say anything for a long while after they came to their agreement, saying where and when the fights would be. The talk was very professional but then it had ended abruptly. Neither of them wanted to say anything, but neither of them wanted the other to leave, either.

"I'm glad you agreed," Jet finally announced. "I was hoping I'd be able to work with you."

"Why's that?" Zuko asked, still sitting up on his cot.

"Because I know you'll do well. And it'd be weird to go to the tea shop every time I'd want to see you."

Zuko was glad he was facing away. He felt a hot flush creep over his cheeks. He'd never been this way with anyone before, even Mai when she'd openly said things to him. This was different. It was guessing, and while it was confusing, Zuko found himself excited.

"Do you wanna just stay here tonight?"

"What do you mean?" Zuko turned around, looking confused.

"Well, needless to say, I'm pretty exhausted and I don't want to walk you home."

"My uncle will worry."

"Your family's been in the military. They've dealt with worse. He should be okay."

Zuko liked to imagine Uncle had waited patiently by the door for him, but frowned visibly at the thought of him asleep on the couch with tea spilt all over him. In his heart, he knew Uncle had probably made the effort, but was definitely asleep right now.

"Where would I sleep?"

"Here?"

"Where here?"

Jet just looked at him, and patted the cot with his palm.

"There's no room here." Zuko felt the heat that usually settled in the pit of his belly slowly descend lower, between his legs, and simultaneously higher, to his face.

"Yeah, I know it's small," Jet trailed off, looking towards the earthen wall.

"Not that that's bad or anything!" Zuko shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that."

"No, I know you didn't." Jet shook his head. "I can sleep pretty close up against the wall if you need that."

"No, I should be fine." Zuko said, resolutely.

There was a long pause before Jet asked, "so do you wanna lay down?"

Zuko nodded, and laid down his arms pressing tightly against Jet's. They were about the same height, if anything Zuko a little bit taller, but just barely. Zuko turned his head and immediately turned back flustered when he met Jet's eyes.

"Are you okay?" Jet asked.

"No, I should be asking you that." Zuko shook his head. He felt a million different thoughts scattering across his mind, long enough to feel them but not long enough to comprehend them. All he knew was he could hear Jet's breath, and now feel the oxygen flow through his arms, and it was making his brain short circuit.

"Yeah, I should apologize for that."

"Why would you apologize?"

Jet turned over, so there was more room for Zuko on his cot, and so he faced him fully. "You never meant to make me freak out like that, I know. And me doing it made you feel like you'd done something wrong. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I never wanted you to know what I really was."

"I don't want to be a person you have to hide part of yourself from. That's not what being a Freedom Fighter is about."

"Do you still consider yourself a Freedom Fighter?" Zuko began to felt nervous, and like his scar was heating up.

"You never aren't. Li, a Freedom Fighter is a person who is always truthful to themselves and fights for what's right. If you're a fire bender, and you're doing what's right, you have to be true to yourself. I don't want you to have to lie to me."

Zuko looked up at the ceiling, feeling misty eyed for a reason he couldn't name. "Yeah, me either."

"You're the first person I've felt this close to in a long time," Jet admitted, and against every fiber in his body telling him no, Zuko turned to face him. Moving his body so his back faced the far earthen wall at the other end of the room, and his heated scar onto the cloth over the cot, he faced Jet fully.

The room was lit by a candle, and dimly he saw Jet, eyes partially hidden by his hair and reddened from before, skin tinged a light pink, possibly still from earlier and possibly from his confession from earlier, and damp lips parted, and still lightly stained with blood from their fight, breathing through his mouth.

Zuko briefly forgot to breathe and then inhaled sharply to make up for it. "Yeah, me too Jet."

Jet smiled, his damp mouth shining lightly in the light of the candle. He brought his hand up to Zuko's hair and pulled their faces closer together. His lips tasted salty from sweaty and metallic from the blood, and not having felt anything more comforting in his life, Zuko pressed his lips back against Jet's.


	5. V - the Truth

Zuko had been fighting as the Blue Spirit for about six weeks with Jet. His first fight, he had felt nervous, but as soon as the fight started, it wasn't even a competition. All his years of training clearly showed in fluid movements, and controlled strength. It was all a faceless crowd shouting until he saw Jet, arms crossed, sitting back in a chair, smoking and smiling, and with one well aimed punch, his first opponent was on the ground, alive but bleeding out his nose and mouth, and panting like a wild dog. The adrenaline ran through Zuko's hot blood and when he stepped out, people cheered for him like he was a beloved king. Warmth spread over him, and he felt strangely content.

Since then, he and Jet'd been able to go a little further, but not much. When they'd gotten to the point where they'd taken off their shirts, they both stopped kissing and touching and examined each others scars. Jet had traced thin ones left by swords, and Zuko's hands trembled when they saw former burns that had once been pink and shiny, but now had become deflated, warped and pale. He started crying when he saw them, apologizing over and over, and Jet just held him.

Zuko was able to love Jet in duality. Jet sold opiates, spent his days with prostitutes, and basically hired Zuko to be a fighter for money, the majority of which he kept for himself. But, Jet was also the man who held Zuko as he sobbed over scars that weren't his. He was able to love him as both of these people, and hoped one day, that Jet would be able to love him as both Li and Zuko.

From Friday evening until Monday morning, he would stay with Jet, sharing his bed until he had to open the Jade Dragon with Uncle. He'd told Uncle that Jet did construction, rebuilding homes in the lower ring of town and repairing already existing ones. Uncle was proud, and had even allowed him to keep his money, saying one day he might not want to live with his old uncle. He'd said, "I don't think that'll ever happen," but inside, he'd briefly thought about if Jet would like living above ground.

He wasn't sure what they were. They'd never discussed names for what to call each other, but when they entered the Crystal Catacombs, they were never apart.

He remembered the morning six weeks ago, when he woke up feeling warm and with vague back pains. Jet had slung an arm over him protectively and was still in a deep sleep. With no sun, Zuko had no idea what time it was, and he had hoped that Uncle wasn't too worried. He inhaled and rolled over, coming face to face with Jet, who slept open mouthed, and looked much less handsome than he had at any time before, but he felt something warm bubble up inside him being able to see him like this.

He remembered how as they kissed that first night, Jet had pulled away briefly, close enough that he could still feel his words against his own mouth, and said, "tell me when it's too much."

Zuko admitted quickly, "I've never done anything like this before."

"It's okay." He could feel Jet smile and kiss him again.

All they had done was kiss, and as Jet brought his hand down from Zuko's hair and tried to snake it under his shirt, Zuko had backed away. Jet immediately knew what he meant, and pulled back. "Sorry, do you wanna stop?"

"Can we just keep…" Zuko began breathless, feeling euphoric and almost dizzy. "Can we just keep kissing?"

Jet smiled, not out of the corner of his mouth like usual, or looking smug and cocky, but with all his teeth, looking genuinely happy. "Yeah, yeah we can."

* * *

Mai woke up with the sunrise and knocked on the suite door. There was naturally no answer, but both people with a key were inside, so she was able to open it.

Sunlight flooded the room. She knew what she was going to see, but the sight of her two best friends sleeping together still made her frown.

Azula was the first to wake up. She drug her head up off the mattress and sat up, naked but still proud and almost regal. "What do you want?" She asked.

Mai continued to frown. Ty Lee had matured, and though barely, she had too, but Azula still had the physique she did when they were little, and it was still normal to bathe together. She would look silly on the throne, not looking like a powerful man, or a regal woman, but a child in a seat still too big for her. "I want to go with June."

"Who?"

"The bounty hunter you hired? To find Zuko?"

"Oh, her. Why?"

She looked away from her childhood friends. "I don't think you really need me here."

"Impatient, are we? Just have to be the first to see him."

Mai said nothing.

"Well, I guess you're better to have watching her than these idiots." Suddenly, feeling strangely self conscious, Azula lightly pushed Ty Lee off a blanket, and covered herself with it. Ty Lee woke up, and asked what was going on.

"Mai's leaving us to bravely face this barren kingdom for her beloved Zuzu."

"What?"

"I'm going with June. We're not doing anything here but waiting."

"And if anything happens, I also know how to throw knives." Azula mocked.

"Are you sure you wanna go?" Ty Lee asked. "This is the first time the three of us will be apart since the summer the war ended."

Even a desert was better than this. "I'll be fine."

"What do you think Azula?" Ty Lee asked.

"No, Mai, the whole thing would fall apart without you." She rolled over, so she faced a wall and not her either of them. "Do you need anything before you leave?"

"I'll be fine. Do you have anything else of Zuko's?"

"That letter doesn't smell like anything but you, does it?" When Mai didn't respond, Azula just continued, "Don't be so serious. In the drawer, I have his cloak from holidays. It gets cold in this repulsive country."

Mai went wordlessly to the drawer, and retrieved the red cloak, sides and center embroiled heavily in gold thread. "Thanks." She looked down at it, remembering festivals when her family would travel to the capital and she'd see her friends for the first time in months after being in Omashu. Azula would make fun of her for looking like a man, but Zuko always tried to tell her not to be mean. She'd cry to her father about Azula being cruel every time, but he would say the royal family and their family would always remain connected. So she endured. Mai and Azula were never friends, but with their personalities, the two were about as close to friends as either of them would ever get.

Azula would rule just like her father had, there was no question about that. Even though she didn't like Azula as a person, Zhao would cause more war, and Zuko had never been trained to rule. As frightening as that was, Azula was the only real choice for Fire Lord, and with their relationship, Mai would at least be a feudal lord, or duchess. She'd want Omashu and with Azula's clear disdain for the Earth Kingdom, she'd be more than happy to have someone else take care of at least one providence for her. She'd have her childhood home, and only have to see Azula every few months. Her fourteen years of abusive "friendship" would come to a fruitful end.

Mai had planned to find Zuko, and propose he let Azula just take the throne. Anything else and Azula would surely kill him. Abdicating again, and she'd kill him. Retaliate, and she'd kill him. She'd also planned to ask him to marry her. She'd let Zuko continue to do whatever exactly it was he was doing now, and they'd both be away from Azula. When his other option was dying, he'd have no other choice. Her family wasn't of high enough blood for her to be engaged to Zuko at birth, but she'd managed to live with Azula all these years since the war ended, and somehow became one of her allies. As a ten-year-old, she hadn't planned for it to happen this way; she'd really just hoped Azula would eventually be nice to her and they could be actual friends, like she'd read about in stories. She clutched the cloak tightly and looked at the floor.

She noticed a crumpled letter laying there. Azula said nothing as she picked it up, and Mai noticed her family's crest.

"Are you taking my mail again?" She asked.

"It's not like it said anything important anyway."

Manipulative, thieving, and deceitful, Azula was still the best choice for the throne, and now the only chance Mai had at any potential happiness. She swallowed. "Good bye, Azula. I'll write to you."

"Am I allowed to read _those_?"

"Of course."

Ty Lee had stood up and put on a bathrobe. "Good bye Mai," She hugged her and said. "I'll miss you." Mai felt Azula's eyes staring warm holes in the back of her head. Everything that happened in her world that wasn't a compliment to her was a threat to the princess.

"I'll miss you too, both of you." She quickly added.

"I'm certain you will." Azula spat. "These soldiers are dull and dirty, June is just an expensive whore with an overgrown rat, and all these cities have is gross plants and homes that look like barns. You'll hate it. I hate this whole kingdom."

"We'll be in New Azulon before you know it." Ty Lee said. "And they've become very influenced by the eastern style of the Fire Nation. You should feel right at home."

"Thankfully." She huffed, smoke coming out of her nose.

Even just being in the room, Mai felt tense and anxious. "June wants to leave immediately. I should go."

They said awkward goodbyes, and Mai met with June, who had insisted on staying in the cage with her shirshu. "You'll be joining me?" She asked.

"Yes," Mai handed her his cloak, and June let her pet smell it. "This should help you find him."

"Are you both ready?" A soldier, hand picked by Azula to be dumb and obedient, asked them.

"Let me put on the saddle. You riding with me?"

"I guess I have to." Mai shrugged.

"Any reason you're joining me?" June asked. "Princess not good company?"

"I have a proposal for the prince."

* * *

It was a Friday, and the sun had set several hours ago. Zuko had just taken off his mask, which stank of blood, and sweat, and smoke, and found Jet within the crowd. They locked eyes, and without words, Zuko left the ring, amidst cries of congratulations, and curses that he'd gotten used to as a prince. Jet did the same, putting up his hand when he was approached saying, "Sorry, Blue Spirit is always the last fight of the night" and making his way towards his one hollowed out room.

Li was there when he arrived, and Jet felt a wave of relief wash over him. Ever since they became whatever exactly they were, Jet had been paranoid that it would end; that something would collapse, and he too would collapse with it. Life for Jet had never been routine, never been safe or sane, and Li was that for him. Li was every weekend for six weeks, and that's the longest period since the fire that Jet could count on consistency. The women he had been with before had come and gone, to different parts of the city, or different men, or died. Different drinks and pills and inhalants he'd taken never gave him the same high, different feelings and all fleeting too fast. Smellerbee and Longshot were there for him, but they had their own lives and had their own demons to battle. Jet chased highs, and women, and once or twice another guy for years and then Li came and held him down like a rock.

He crashed onto Li like a wave envelops the sand, and takes some of it back with it, holding him close as they tumbled to his cot. He'd gotten more pillows and blankets so it was comfortable for Li, and he arranged his body so when they made it to the cot, Jet took most of the blow, landing on his back and letting Li fall on top of him, all the grace in his movement spent on his fight earlier. He smiled up hazily at him, and commented, "You fought good tonight."

"Thanks." Li said, flatly, as if he'd hoped he would say something else.

"You always do."

Li said nothing, and looked towards the stony wall.

"Are you still okay with fighting?"

It took Li a moment. "It's not bad. The money's good, and I like you as a boss."

"I'm glad I'm a good boss. Better than your uncle?"

"Kinda." Li closed the distance between the two of them and kissed him. Li rarely initiated what they did, but when he did, it made Jet's heart jump. He sighed, contently, into the kiss and inhaled his scent.

With anyone before, his body had only reacted very strictly, and only when touched. Li's blush, Li inviting _him_ to kiss, Li breathing in his ear as he slept, Li's heartbeat pressed against his chest, sent waves of gentle tension through his whole body, concentrating in the pit of his stomach and between his legs. He tried as hard as he could to put all these thoughts and passions into the kiss with Li.

Li returned as much enthusiasm and grace as he showed in a fight, pushing into him lightly but with force behind his arms as he wrapped them around Jet's neck. Jet's hands made their way to Li's hips, rubbing his hip bones causing Li to involuntarily groan and buck against him.

"Ugh, why do you do that?" Li pulled his mouth away.

"To see you squirm like that." Jet smirked. "I want to try something."

Zuko looked away him to hide his reddening face. Eventually, he'd hoped this would stop, but Jet seemed to like it. "Like what?"

Jet placed his head in the crook of Li's neck, where it fit perfectly and whispered, "Something about this." With the comment, he groped between Li's legs, forcefully enough to make the other boy gasp but gently and warm enough that he bucked into his hand. Jet had done this before - truth be told, he'd done everything before Li - but it was so painfully clear, Li was a different story. As much as he could, Jet tried to take it slow, but Li certainly didn't make it easy on him.

Zuko let his head fall down against Jet's shoulder and exhaled. "I think I'd like that." His strong arms trembled.

Jet's eyes widened and he moved his hand from between Li's legs, to the small of his back, to gently rub there. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," He panted. "I can tell you want it too."

Jet's mind raced as he leaned into kiss the boy above him, pulling his head down close to him. They'd kissed like this before, and he could feel how hot Li's breath, his mouth, his everything was. Before, the heat would have made Jet uncomfortable, but now he couldn't imagine anything more inviting than the heat of his mouth. Jet brought a hand to cover and hold the fevered scar on Li's face, caressing it gently as he fought for dominance with Li's hot tongue, a battle he usually won. He'd also managed to flip them both over at this point, so now Li's back was on the cot and Jet was pressing his own erection down into his.

"Can I take these off?" Jet asked, sneaking his hands under Li's pants to continue touching his hip bones.

Li squirmed and almost kicked him off but said, "Yes, just stop talking."

"You like when I talk." Jet replied, quickly exposing Li's legs and everything else, and sitting up to remove his own clothes as well. "I can tell."

He went back to kissing the boy beneath him, moving up and down along his neck and letting his hands grope at his hips, his chest, his legs, anything he could touch, really. At first, Li moaned into him, pushing his body up against his, begging silently for more contact, to which Jet happily complied. But after a few minutes of teasing, Li craned his neck away from the other boy and said, "I thought you were going to-"

Jet laughed. "You're impatient."

Li looked away, half pouting half flushing. Jet laughed more.

"Did you get spoiled as a soldier's son?"

"Hardly." Li responded indignantly.

"Well, then let me spoil you here." He returned, wrapping his hand around Li's now bare arousal and lightly pulling. "I can't do anything romantic for you."

"Will you just—" Li started but let his head fall back, and eyes close as he finally received the contact he wanted.

"Is that what you wanted?"

Li didn't respond, but grabbed the far too talkative boy above him to kiss him. He didn't intend for it to be so rough, but he figured it would shut him up long enough for Li to finish, which as embarrassed as he was to admit, usually wasn't that long. This wasn't something he'd done often in the Fire Nation, nor on the canning ship, though he'd heard and seen plenty of less ashamed men pleasure themselves. He'd been disgusted by them at the time, but with Jet was different. As a person, he was passionate and fast-paced, and he was no different with a lover, but he never made inexperienced Zuko feel pressured or embarrassed. He only left him feeling desperate from Jet to just stop talking.

Jet pulled away, a smile breaking through his wet lips. "Let me do something to really spoil you."

Before Li could either agree or oppose, Jet slid down his body, and took Li's entire erection into his mouth in one movement. Zuko almost sobbed at the warmth and pressure, bringing a hand to cover his mouth. He might have lasted longer, but the former prince looked down at Jet who met his gaze, and somehow managed to look like he was smirking at him while he started sucking. He came, hard, and before he could even fully recover, Jet covered his body with his own and looked down at him.

"Next time, don't cover your mouth." Jet said. "I want to hear you."

"Did you- did you swallow that?"

He hesitated, which Jet seldom did. "Yeah, what did you want me to do?" He laughed a little.

Zuko just sighed.

"You're so precious."

Zuko then wondered how he was still attracted to this boy and would more than likely let him do anything to him.

"Help me finish?" Jet asked, leaning his head down to whisper in the other boy's ear.

"I'm-"

"Not with your mouth. You can just use your hand. I just want to feel you."

Zuko didn't have a vast range of experience but just hearing the need in Jet's voice made him confident enough to reach down and take hold of Jet's erection, mimicking his motions from earlier, pulling gently along the entire length.

"Yeah, just like that." Jet said breathy and hot against his neck, moving his hips in time with Li's hand. "Your hand's so hot."

"Sorr—" Li started to apologize, and slowed the motion of his hand.

"God, no. Don't, please. I'm so close."

"Just stop talking then." Zuko said, moving his hand faster and kissing him. Jet still moaned into the other boy's mouth when he came, jerking his hips into Li's hand.

"God," Jet sighed, collapsing onto Li, exhausted and content.

"Uhm," Zuko started, shaking his hand.

"Just wipe it on the blanket. It doesn't matter."

"That's disgusting!"

"What do you do when you're done?" Jet looked down at him, lips still wet but no longer as tried as before.

"I-" Li started.

"Hah, my innocent little—"

"Will you just stop talking?"

* * *

"Are you sure this is right?" Mai asked June as they roamed through the city, still on the back of her shirshu. In the Fire Nation, surely riding on a beast like this would cause attention, but the people of the earth kingdom just accepted it. They made way for it, and they made way around hippo cows and ostrich horses.

"For the fourth time, yes." June snapped. "Why don't you believe me?"

"It just seems too easy that he'd be in Ba Sing Se." They'd been riding for about ten days, and to end by coming to Ba Sing Se was just anti-climactic. "We were going here anyway."

"I don't think we're heading to where the princess would stay." June commented.

"Where exactly are we heading?" Mai asked.

"The Lower Ring of the city."

"And to someone who's never been to Ba Sing Se, that means?"

June exhaled. "It's where the drug and sex trade of the city is. Not exactly royal quarters."

Mai felt her stomach sink. As strong as Zuko was, he wasn't exactly street smart. He'd been missing for so long that something terrible easily could have happened to him. Something maybe even worse than what Azula was planning to do with him. Without Zuko, this whole trip was worthless, and so was her years of torment at the hands of Azula.

On the train, she was confident but now as she grew closer and closer, she was terrified. What would she say when she saw him again? She'd never been able to talk a great deal to him before because of her feelings, but now with the added pressure of Azula impending, she felt her throat tighten just by thinking about it.

The shirshu stopped in front of a solid rock, and June examined the structure briefly.

Mai momentarily panicked. "Did you lose the scent?"

"No, we're going underground."

"How?" She frowned.

June sighed. She'd dealt with men looking scornfully for ex-lovers, wives spitefully looking for husbands who had left them, dealers looking for people who owed them money, and anything else an impure mind could imagine, but she wasn't good with kids. Fortunately, Mai had been quieter and less demanding than the princess, even though she had gotten quite angry when she had let the cloak belonging to this prince very few people liked but everyone was desperate to find. "There's a door. It's not my first time in the Crystal Catacombs."

"Those were destroyed during the war."

June closed her eyes and sighed, again. "Not everything you learn in school is true."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Your people's war destroyed a lot, but it didn't destroy the Earth Kingdom."

"We don't pay you to have a political opinion."

"You're not actually paying me, so…"

Mai twisted her mouth, angrily. "And you're telling me Zuko's down there?"

"Not many other places he can go."

* * *

Both Jet and Zuko were awoken by Smellerbee. She was silent but she shook Jet, who recognized her touch almost immediately. He turned over slowly to face her but knew to be quiet by the look on her face.

"What's wrong?" He whispered.

"You're going to want to leave. The rat's back." She said, and left immediately.

"Li, get up." Jet moved in a way that was calculated, and almost practiced. He quickly moved around the room, getting dressed, blowing out candles and throwing Li's clothes at him. "I said get up." His voice had an urgency that he'd never heard before.

"What's wrong?" Zuko asked, half asleep, unable to grasp the gravity Jet was trying to convey.

"We need to leave." He pulled him up and started pulling his shirt down over Li's head.

"Why? What happened?" Li was slowly coming to, wondering if Jet had pissed off someone the night before because of a bet. Or maybe he had.

"Nothing, we should just-" Jet stopped, and listened closely to the sounds outside the flap of fabric covering the entrance to his room. "Fuck, she's here."

A red nose peaked under the flap and opened it up. Zuko pushed up against the earth wall, fearful, and Jet grimaced, putting his hands up in the air. "Hey June." He said turning around the greet the woman entering.

"Not you again." Came an exaggerated sigh from a woman Zuko had never seen. She was tall, dressed mostly in black, and looked tougher than some of the generals Zuko had seen in the army. "Tell me this isn't who you're looking for." She looked behind her.

"No," Said a voice Zuko recognized. He had to still be asleep. There's no way she'd be here. No way anyone from the Fire Nation had found him.

"Oh, so you're looking for his boyfriend?" June asked, finally turning her attention to Zuko. "So much for the prince." She held in a laugh.

Jet turned quicker than Li'd ever see him move before. "Why's she looking for you?" Jet's eyes widened and he moved closer to him, defensively.

"I don't know." Zuko returned in a whispered breath.

Mai stepped in the room, looking exhausted, eyes darker than usual. Zuko hadn't seen her in almost six months, and she looked like she had aged years. Her voice was dry. "Yeah, that's him."

The room was silent, smoke from the candle Jet had blown out billowing through the room.

"Go tell Azula." Mai quietly said, her voice shaking.

"You sure?" June asked. "The guy he's with is sorta dangerous."

"Sorta?" Jet asked, offended.

"Zuko knows I'm dangerous too." Mai said, pulling her knives out from her pocket, between each of her fingers.

June said nothing, and left.

"Azula will know where you are in ten days." Mai said matter-of-factly.

Jet questioningly looked at Li, whose pupils had widened and chest rose and fell quickly. His mind raced, with questions and fears, but he could see on Li's face that he was even more upset. He looked worse than he had after any fight, like a war had just been fought across the landscape of his body; anything could break him now, and if Li broke, Jet wasn't far behind. Desperately, he tried to look into Li's eyes to let him know it was alright, but he could tell Li was in too deep of a panic to even see him. So instead, he moved quickly, and quietly towards the door flap.

"Why are you here?" Zuko almost sobbed. "Why did you come? What do you want?" He started to scream.

Mai's face had been a solid stare since she walked in, frigid and unmoving, but it broke seeing Zuko upset. She'd travelled so far to protect him, save him even, and now he was falling apart just by seeing her. She took a pained breath and cried, "Azula wants you dead. She's coming to find you so she can be Fire Lord." She wasn't the bad guy. She wasn't the one hurting him. What had she done?

"Fire Lord?" Zuko said barely above a whisper. He could never mention the Fire Lord, his own father, in front of Jet. He could never know what that blood that ran through him truly was, the blood he would drain out of his body if he could. "We have a Fire Lord."

"You didn't know? You-your father's dead."

"What?" For the first time since he'd heard his mother had left, Zuko felt cold. All the heat left his body, no smoke in his breath, no steam in his tears. He'd waited, dream about, prayed to Gods he didn't believe in for the death of his father. But not now — not that he had finally found his place in the kingdom where they could exist without each other. Without his father, there'd no doubt be another war. With Azula leading it. "He can't be dead."

"I was there, Zuko. I watched them burn his body."

"Then who's ruling the kingdom? Why is there no rebellion?"

"They're keeping it quiet until they announce the new Fire Lord."

Zuko's chest constricted, and he sucked desperately at the air in the room that felt like it was closing. Why wasn't Jet doing anything? Why wasn't he screaming at him for being a traitor, a liar, for being the worst thing he could be— not just fire nation, but fire nation royalty. Why hadn't Jet killed them both already and left?

Mai was crying at this point. "And you're next in line, so Azula wants you dead." Her cries grew louder and she put her knives down.

Zuko said nothing. Where was Jet? Why wasn't this ending?

"I missed you so much." Mai wiped her face with her sleeve. "I came to tell you. I'm so sorry Zuko. I-" Her voice was cut off and she collapsed. Her body lay motionless on the ground, no sound and no blood. Jet was standing behind her, panting and looking desperately at Zuko.

The prince's body shook, trying to process all the news and still carry on bodily functions made him want to collapse. What would Jet do? What would he say? Was he going to kill him next? Every comfort Zuko had found in the world was evaporating, and he was cold. He felt like all of his organs had frozen and stopped working. His body was thick and dense and moving, breathing, blinking was so painful.

"Is—she?" Zuko asked, panting.

"She's just passed out." He never broke eye contact.

"Why'd you do that?" His knees buckled and he fell to the ground. All his bones were lead and no matter how hard he was breathing, there wasn't enough air. It was over. This was it. "Just end it now. Just tell me you hate me. Just tell me how much you hate me and let it be over."

For the first time in years, Jet had no idea what to do or say. Since he began leading the Freedom Fighters, he'd relied heavily on his instinct and was able to take control of any situation. He was a misfit leader, a rebel king, but it was all he could do to stay standing. He trembled, looking at the boy on the ground, the boy he had come to love, and the boy he didn't know. The boy he'd still kill a stranger for, and the boy he had to make a choice for. Though it felt like he was ripping a part of himself out, Jet knew the choice he would make. He always knew. He knew when he met Li, when he found out he was a fire bender, when he kissed him. The choice was reaffirmed every time he looked at him. There was never another choice he could make.

Jet looked at Mai on the ground, and though his body felt foreign and heavy, he moved closer to Li. "Because I trust you. I need you."

Jet wasn't sure what happened. Li was silent but shaking heavily. It took him a moment to realize the boy was crying, sobbing, and completely broken. Air caught in Jet's throat as he remember the night he found out Li was a fire bender, and how he'd fallen to the ground sobbing too, and how truth can rip your body apart. All he'd wanted in that moment was for Li to come and hold him.

Jet ran to him, awkwardly trying to put his arms around him before carrying him over to the bed. Like the nights when they wept over each others scars, Jet laid him down and held him, so tightly it felt like everything falling apart in the other boy was being forced back together. He owed so much to Jet, in this moment and in all the moments that had elapsed since they met. He replayed each second in his mind, each kiss, each glance, each time he'd wished Jet would stop talking, each time he'd miss Jet to the point of pain during the week.

Jet needed him. And he needed Jet. "I'm so sorry," He said. "I've kept so much from you."

"Are you-" Jet started almost not able to say it himself. "Are you really the _prince_ of the Fire Nation?"

Zuko didn't say anything, just looked at Jet. Not even wanting to look at him, Zuko buried his face into Jet's shoulder. He heard Jet whisper, "the prince" before he put his head in the other boy's hair. They held each other, until their breathing was in synch with each others.

"Li, I have something to tell you too." Jet sighed.

Zuko said nothing, but craned his neck so he could look at him.

"You're the prince?" He asked again, sitting up with his arms on Zuko's shoulders so they were face to face.

"Yeah," He answered with his eyes casted downward.

Jet looked away, like he was trying to gather the words to say, and then resolutely at Zuko. "I think I know your mom."


End file.
